Vucic in Athens: Ukraine and Greece will not change their position on Kosovo and Metohija

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, stated today in Athens that he believed there would be no change in Ukraine's position regarding respecting Serbia's territorial integrity and the issue of Kosovo and Metohija.

In Athens, after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vucic said that he had had a sincere and constructive conversation with Zelenskyy, who had shown interest in what people in Serbia thought about the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia and why they held such views.

"I spoke about what happened to us in the 1990s and about respecting territorial integrity, confirming that we are not changing our position. Serbia respects Ukraine's territorial integrity," Vucic said.

He added that they had discussed various forms of future cooperation, and noting that they were currently at war, he said they would have to think about rebuilding the country.

"I explained the situation regarding Kosovo and Metohija, and I believe there will be no change in Ukraine's position concerning our territorial integrity. We supported Ukraine's territorial integrity," Vucic said.

He expressed the hope that we would continue cooperation and have cooperation that we had not had so far with one of the countries that had never done anything wrong to Serbia.

"Ukraine has never done anything bad to Serbia," he emphasized.

No Kosovo flags anywhere

Speaking about the host of the informal meeting, Greece, the president stated that it had been fair because Kosovo flags had not been displayed anywhere, and everywhere it had been written Belgrade and Pristina.

He mentioned that he was expecting a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, saying that Mitsotakis had confirmed that Greece's position on Kosovo would not change.

In that regard, he noted that when he stated that he believed Ukraine's position on the issue would not change, that belief carries much more weight, but that he was only authorized to say that much.

"I am almost convinced that there will be no change in Ukraine's position regarding Kosovo and Metohija," Vucic said.

Speaking about the informal meeting of Western Balkan leaders held in Athens last night, Vucic reminded that leaders from the Western Balkans had attended, with the exception of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, as well as the Bulgarian and Romanian prime ministers, representatives from Moldova and Ukraine, and EU representatives Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen.

"It was an opportunity for us to talk to European leaders and look at our future when it comes to European integration," he said, mentioning that he would also meet with President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens.

"It is important that we talked with Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, who reiterated the importance of the growth agenda and how the EU is preparing a growth program for the Western Balkan countries and what we can do to improve economic performance. We expect additional financial inflow for the Western Balkan countries," President Vucic said.

He said they had also discussed strategic matters and he noted that, in his opinion, Moldova and Ukraine were expected to receive more than just dates to start negotiations with the EU in December.

"We had the opportunity to rationally assess with the EU what we could do, and about the single economic market. It's not easy for us, but it would further stimulate growth in our country, and we could attract more investments," he said.

The President of Serbia emphasized that Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had also given a substantive speech and that it had contained a rational approach to future European matters.

"It is up to us to continue that path and look for ways to benefit our country as much as possible," he said.

He noted that there had been disagreements over the issue of imposing sanctions on Russia but that he had openly explained Serbia's position on that matter.