Vucic on the continuation of the dialogue in Brussels: They will pressure us, Serbia knows how to deal with it

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said tonight that the topic of the talks in Brussels, where the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, and Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Bislimi would meet tomorrow, would be the implementation of what had been agreed so far, stating that Belgrade would put more pressure on Pristina, but that no one would be able to humiliate Serbia.

"It is logical that they will press us. There will be pressure on both sides, more essentially us, and tactically - technically more of them. It's all one game, and I learned that playbook when I was much younger... Serbia will know how to deal with it," Vucic told TV Happy.

He pointed out that Serbia wanted normalization and better, normal relations with the Albanians in Kosovo, but that it was very difficult when someone only wanted to humiliate Serbia and thought that this was the only thing he could offer and the only way to defeat you.

"You will see that when Hell freezes over," Vucic said.

The allegation is that tomorrow there will be talks on the implementation of what was agreed in Brussels.

"Petkovic is going. I will have a meeting with him tomorrow morning or we will talk for a long time on the phone, but it is important to show our openness, and seriousness, while protecting our vital state interests. He knows how to do it," Vucic said.

He pointed out that they were not doing anything else in Kosovo, except provoking, because they wanted a conflict.

"Kurti wants to be Zelenskyy, and I want to be little - great Putin. The provocations are there to avoid the formation of the CSM. To enter into conflicts earlier, to have NATO turn against Serbia, without it having to form the CSM. Osmani promised that it would never be formed, Kurti had a meeting of the so-called KLA veterans, Thaci's supporters out of a real 8,500 thousand people. Forget about 100,000…. With this, they will continue an even greater anti-Serb policy in order to prove that they have not actually capitulated; that they will not form the CSM, but will invent other nonsense," the President of Serbia said.

Vucic was in Verona yesterday and today, where he visited the International Wine Fair, where Serbia was presented.

"We invested the most and tried our best to be represented. It is important for us, people often underestimate the importance of the International Wine Fair, but the arrival of Giorgia Meloni showed how important it was for Italy, and then you understand how important it can be for us. For us, the conversation about all other topics was much more important than the wine itself. Today we had bilateral meetings with Giorgia Meloni, and the previous two days more meetings with Kovacevski and Rama... It is important that we try to do good things for our people when they go on a trip to Greece, to the sea, when they go to North Macedonia, Albania to the sea, to make everything easier for them. If we have single work permits, if we connect the economy, if we have a single residence and work permit, it seems to me that there are many good things there," Vucic said.

He announced that a new Italy-Serbia business summit had been arranged, and expressed the hope that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would visit Serbia by the end of the year, reminding that Italy was Serbia's second largest partner in the EU.

"We talked about European integration, the situation in Kosovo, the overall economic situation, the war in Ukraine, the prospects, the energy situation. I was able to see and learn a lot, but also to get some benefits for our country," Vucic said.

Asked whether it was time for Montenegro to join the "Open Balkan", Vucic said that it was not a question for him, but a question of Podgorica's decision.

"I can say what I heard from Dritan Abazovic. Today I congratulated Mr. Jakov Milatovic, I have never talked to him, nor have I seen him, we will talk soon. I spoke with Dritan and he unequivocally expressed his wish for Montenegro to enter the 'Open Balkan'. I think it is good for Montenegro, it can only benefit them. That would be good news that we would all welcome," Vucic said.

He added that he "will not despair" if this was not the case because it was Montenegro's decision, their sovereign right.

"You can explain to me what someone sees as bad in this, what is bad if they would wait less at the borders... When it comes to the 'Open Balkan', no one calls us anywhere to decide for us, we meet and make decisions by consensus to make life easier for our people. We then implement it ourselves. It's better than someone forcing it on you from the side. I think that in the end people notice, see, and understand that, I believe that it is good for the citizens of Montenegro. We will wait for whatever decision they make. Abazovic was absolutely in favor, and Milatovic spoke positively about it during the campaign, I hope that in the coming period some new government will make such a decision with the help of the president, we are waiting for that," Vucic said.

He also notes that when talking about the 'Open Balkan', it always came down to who was inside it, and it was never reduced to conversations about the essence – what is being achieved.

He noted that the procedures and movement, especially of the so-called authorized producers and traders in the river crossings, had been drastically accelerated.

"We made the border crossing process much easier, we simplified the procedures, we managed to do a lot of things. However, the political question always arises, why is someone not there? I don't have a problem, it's enough to say that we have three members, would I like to have a fourth, a fifth... It cannot be based on the fact that we are going to put pressure on someone or that we want to. If you want - you will, if you don't - you won't,” Vucic said.

He also referred to the fact that Montenegro had gotten a new president, and when asked what were the first areas in which the cooperation needed to improve, he answered that "trust must be improved", because, as he said, the former President of Montenegro had blamed Serbia for everything.

"Shortly, it is important, metaphorically speaking, that we improve trust and that there are no mutual accusations based on anything, as there were in the previous period. The previous president of Montenegro blamed Serbia for everything. The problem is not me; the problem is that Serbia has always been to blame. We were mostly silent, rarely answered; I hope that in the future cooperation in all fields will be the basic motto of our relations, and not a way to accuse the other or to consider him guilty for anything we failed to do. That is the most important thing", president Vucic said.