Vucic: Serbia is paying the price for its choice to be an independent country

Printscreen: Tanjug

President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Wednesday that geopolitics is now "the most important factor in everything", and that Serbia is paying the price for its choice to be an independent country and not to join NATO, not impose sanctions against Russia, and not recognize so-called Kosovo.

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Vucic spoke after his meeting with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Antonio Costa in Brussels. When asked by a journalist to comment on 'some people in Serbia being happy that it cannot join the EU and about any criticism of him coming from the EU' - the president said that there have always been people who wish their country ill and that he does not understand them.

He added that Serbia is "still a slightly particular country," and that such people "do not know what the state is."

"The state is not a toy. We are not a member of NATO. Today, geopolitics is, I will not say the only, but the most important factor in everything. Did we choose not to be a member of NATO, or did someone else make that choice for us, the Serbs? We chose it. That's why a certain price is being paid. And we still stand by our choice. Do you really think that they will treat us like they do NATO members? Of course not. 22 out of the 27 (EU member) countries have recognized Kosovo. We have not. What else do you expect? We are the only country (in Europe) that did not impose sanctions against Russia," said Vucic.

He recalled that at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, there was an election campaign in Serbia when the opposition was saying he would join sanctions against Russia on April 1 of that year - but that to this day, three years later, this has not happened.

"They lied to the people during the campaign and they didn't care. I didn't lie to the people either before, during, or after the campaign. So, there are some difficult choices from time to time. You want to be an independent country - that's not always easy. But do we still have a lot that we can do, fix, change? Of course we can, and that's why I believe that whether now or in January, February, March, I am convinced that we will make progress," said Vucic.

Asked to comment on the reporting of the Serbian media outlet Juzne Vesti, which wondered whether he would "dare to take a walk in (the town of) Nis' - which he is visiting starting on Thursday - Vucic replied that he will be taking walks during the three days he will spend there, and that he will visit at least three of the five municipalities of Nis, as well as some surrounding places, such as Merosina and Gadzin Han.

The president added that attention should be paid to the message of those who said he should not dare take a walk in Nis.

"It's part of that dehumanization. You can't walk, we won't let you, 'the uprising of the people'. Their message is, 'there's no democracy here, you're not even allowed to do your job'. And not only that, 'you can't even take a stroll, because we will beat or kill you'. Imagine if such people were to come to power, what they would do," Vucic said and added that he will "never be running away."

When asked by a journalist to comment on political analyst Djordje Vukadinovic claiming that he plans to return to the role of prime minister after the next (presidential) election, Vucic replied that he does not want to be a burden either to the party he loves (SNS) or to the movement "that will erupt at the start of next year."

"I don't want to be a burden to anyone. Whether I am a burden or not, we will all decide together at some point and see what to do with that. As you know, we will not change the Constitution in order for me to be (continue as) president, we will not change the method of electing the president at this moment, we will certainly not do it before the election, and everything else is in line with the law. It's not complicated," said Vucic.

The president added that,"the hysteria that grips them (the opposition)" speaks to who enjoys the support of the people.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)