Vucic for CNN: Serbia is the last country that needs incidents; we do not want war with NATO

Serbia is the last country that needs incidents because it has always been and will continue to be a constructive partner. In contrast, after 10 years, Pristina is not ready to establish the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities and wants to continue with the gradual ethnic cleansing of the Serbs, primarily in northern Kosovo, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with CNN today.

In the interview with renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour, Vucic emphasized that Serbia valued the reports coming from the White House, the State Department, and other US institutions but that they were not accurate this time. Regarding the US request for Serbia to withdraw its army from the administrative line with Kosovo, he said there was no reason for greater concern because Serbia did not need a war with NATO. On the contrary, Serbia wanted to see a stronger KFOR presence in northern Kosovo.

He reminded that Serbia had signed an agreement with NATO in 2002, allowing access to the security zone, with the provision that it could be used freely, without restrictions and concerning equipment.

"A year ago, we had 14,000 people on the administrative line, a few days ago less than 8,400, and today 4,400, which is a regular number," he explained.

He said that Serbia always listened when its partners said it needed to de-escalate.

"There is no reason for greater concern, we do not need a war with NATO; on the contrary, we want a stronger KFOR presence, especially in northern Kosovo. That would be one way to help the security and safety of the Serbs, especially in the north," Vucic emphasized.

When asked about allegations that Milan Radoicic admitted to participating in the shooting on September 24 and whether, a few hours later, he had allegedly brought thousands of soldiers to the scene to divert attention from it, Vucic replied that it was not about that, and that there had been no increase in the state of alert in the Serbian Army.

"Our army is monitoring the situation on the ground and moved its forces in a way they believed would be most useful. However, I did not sign a higher level of readiness for our army. The number of personnel was not higher, not even 60 percent, which exists on the administrative line," Vucic said.

He emphasized that Serbia was the last country that needed incidents in Kosovo because of the dynamics of the negotiation process.

"Everyone could see that Serbia is a constructive partner, making concessions, while the other side made none. They conducted ethnic cleansing. Since Albin Kurti came to power, 10 percent fewer Serbs are left in Kosovo. During that period, we had 420 attacks on Serb civilians, on the people," Vucic said.

In response to the comment that the United States and the EU say the army must withdraw and the perpetrators must face justice, and the question of whether Radoicic, who "admitted to being the culprit," would be held responsible, Vucic said that Serbia would, of course, call to account all those who had committed criminal acts on its territory.

"He is available, he is on our territory, and the prosecution will do its job. That is important," the President of Serbia added.

He stated, however, that the root of the problem was something else, but that no one wanted to hear that.

"The problem is that the Serbs wanted to protect themselves. I will not defend the killing of an Albanian police officer, I condemn it, but I say that the Serbs were being arrested without charges, evicted from their homes, which were searched... none of that is in line with the Brussels Agreement and international law. The Community of Serb-majority Municipalities has not been formed even after 10 years because the Albanian regime in Pristina did not want it. People wanted to defend themselves," Vucic pointed out.

In response to the provocative question, "Does your arm still hurt?" regarding him leaving the last talks without signing the plan because he said he felt pain in his right arm, Vucic, while ironically thanking Amanpour for her objectivity and not at all biased stance, said that she had apparently not followed the latest developments.

"The European Union has said that Serbia was a constructive partner, even Borell, and Lajcak have said that Serbia is entirely constructive...," Vucic said, and when pressed that he did not sign the agreement, he replied that he had always done everything he had told EU and US partners.

"There is also the Constitution of Serbia; I must respect it. I did not hide anything from them; I told them everything to their faces, and I always spoke the truth. We wanted to implement everything agreed, but Pristina did not want that," the President of Serbia emphasized.

Vucic also noted that there had been very clear signals from the EU that everything was due to a mistake on the Pristina side, noting that then "suddenly, we have incidents, and Serbia is blamed for everything".

The President said that Serbia had always been and would always be ready for negotiations, that it had been constructive in dialogue, and would remain so.

"You have to understand, and the EU has confirmed this, that Pristina is not ready to establish the CSM, which is the biggest obstacle. They want to continue with the gradual ethnic cleansing of the Serbs, primarily in northern Kosovo," he stressed.

Vucic said that Serbia was always at the disposal of friends in the international community.

"We are ready to talk about all issues. I told them to form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, and we will fulfill everything we promised. Peace is in the best interest of Serbia and the entire region. We can boast that we have 63 percent of total foreign direct investments. We need that. We have a lot to lose. That's why we are committed to negotiations," he explained.

Regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vucic emphasized that he had always been responsible and serious regarding Bosnia and had always supported its territorial integrity.

In response to Amanpour's statement, "It's nice to hear that you're distancing yourself from Milorad Dodik," Vucic said that he shouldn't turn his back on him and added that he supported the Dayton Agreement and the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and had never questioned it.

When asked about the benefits of having a famous athlete like Novak Djokovic write on camera, "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia, stop the violence," and whether he supported such rhetoric, Vucic replied that he believed Novak had said it from the heart, and 99 percent of people in Serbia thought the same way.

"We politicians must be pragmatic and rational; we must find solutions through negotiations with a constructive approach, to see how we will deal with all the problems, because we must ensure that the Albanians and the Serbs no longer suffer, how to overcome difficulties and create a better future with open borders or administrative lines, to bring peoples closer," Vucic concluded.