Vucic: Parliamentary elections to be held in Serbia on October 18 or 25; he reveals what he wrote to Rutte

Photo: Printscreen: RTS

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said last evening that in the coming days he expects a reaction from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to a letter he sent him, regarding the situation in Kosovo and Metohija.

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"I believe that Rutte wants, on behalf of NATO and in his own name, to ensure safety and security for all people in the Balkans. I also asked for greater rights for Serbia and the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. I also previously asked that what was signed in Brussels in April 2013 be respected, but there has been no response from the international community," he said, and added:

"These are all tricks, these are all attempts to escape reality, because if the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) and other things that were agreed in Brussels had been respected, we would not have such problems today. And someone has to provide an answer to that."

The president stated that in the letter, he also raised the issue of the main bridge on the Ibar in Kosovska Mitrovica and pointed out that this bridge has always been part of the dialogue, while that now they want to remove it from the dialogue because some member countries of the so-called Western Alliance are panicking because of the fact that 18 years have passed since Pristina unilaterally declared independence, and they still cannot get the majority of the countries in the world to recognize it.

"Above all, they have a problem with Serbia, which does not want to recognize that independence. So, I sent what seems to me a rational, reasonable, well-intended letter, hoping that NATO, through KFOR, in accordance with United Nations Resolution 1244 - which is the basis and foundation for deployment of KFOR and the NATO troops in Kosovo and Metohija - takes appropriate measures in order to protect the Serb population," said Vucic.

Describing Mark Rutte as a very intelligent man, he said that he believes Rutte will act in a rational manner this time as well.

"Mark Rutte is a very intelligent man. I've known him for a long time and he receives all kinds of reports every day. Much more information than you, me, anyone. But he also likes to listen. And he is smart enough that, when everyone is pushing him to clash with Trump, he doesn't. He is also smart enough about some other things that he managed to avoid, so I believe that he will act rationally in this matter," said Vucic.

He added that the relationship with Rutte is fair and one of mutual respect.

"People are asking, why can't we put that fire out"

"I spoke with Luka Causic, before I entered the studio. At the moment, we have 445 people deployed there (Deliblato Sands), of which 189 are from fire-rescue units. People ask: why can't we put out that fire, and what is the problem? The problem is that this is a sandy area, the problem is that the wind was blowing 15 meters per second. We thought, we needed a big plane, the Europeans have what we have. We needed something bigger, we are grateful to the Russian Federation for sending an Ilyushin plane to us. Today (Thursday) 21 tons of water were dumped by the Ilyushin alone. That saved some 50 buildings. In Grebenec, the wildfire reached the first sheds, but it didn't go any further, for now all the houses are protected. Grebenac, Kajtasovo, Sumarak are safe at the moment, we don't know what the night will bring," Vucic about the most serious wildfire in Serbia right now.

"We are opening robot factory in Sabac"

"One factory, high-tech, will invest 100.5 million euros in Indjija, we are signing the first framework contract at the end of August, in two months we will start building the plant".

"There will be changes to the law because we've recognized weaknesses. We already have 328,000 solved cases, houses, residential buildings and secondary buildings, only 0.5 percent of business premises, let's finish this big job once and for all," Vucic said regarding the process of legalization of buildings.

Elections on October 18 or 25

"Parliamentary elections will be held on October 18 or 25, and we will know in a few days," Vucic said.

Pensions to follow wage growth

Vucic said that pensions will almost completely follow the wages, and pensioners will receive an increase before the end of the year.

Package of measures worth 968 million euros

The president of Serbia stated that the total value of the package of economic measures to support the citizens will be 968 million euros and he pointed out that these allocations represent a large financial undertaking and an indicator of Serbia's economic results, and that these measures bring great relief to the citizens.

Vucic stated that initially it was said that the package would be worth 600 million, but that this does not include the money that will come from the Shareholders' Fund.

He also spoke about prescription several medicines that recently became cheaper, saying that already 2,500 have been bought in pharmacies, and added that some innovative drugs are coming, while new drugs for rare diseases will arrive by the new year, and that he is very happy about that.

"There will be a very significant increase to the minimum wage, it will be approximately 71,000 dinars. We once dreamed of having a salary like that, not the average, but far above the average, and now it will be the minimum wage in Serbia, and there's the (financial) measures (to support citizens) that we talked about," Vucic said.

He added that this is a huge amount of money, but also a huge success for the state of Serbia.

"Our growth rate is the highest in Europe at the moment. We expect growth next year to be by far the highest in Europe. These are important things that push this country forward," said Vucic.

(Telegraf.rs)