Vucic: Despite often being upset with many regarding Kosovo and Metohija, we must send a message of Serbia's European path and commitment to reforms

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic emphasized tonight, presenting the program "Leap into the Future - Serbia 2027", that a prerequisite for the realization of all planned projects is to preserve peace

"The prerequisite for everything is to preserve peace. We will fight to preserve peace, despite those who will misuse every word and claim that we will surrender something. We will not surrender; we will protect our country as always and defend the Constitution. In such geopolitical conditions, it is crucial to preserve peace, even though we cannot influence global events," Vucic stated.

He mentioned that, despite being often upset with many in Europe, especially concerning Kosovo and Serbia's territorial integrity, tonight's gathering must send a message that Serbia will continue on the European path and accelerate it through reforms.

"In such geopolitical situations worldwide, our goal is to maintain peace in the region and within our borders. Despite being upset with statements from many in Europe, especially regarding Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia must send a clear message tonight – that we continue on the European path and will accelerate it. While preserving, of course, our traditional friendships, freedom, and independence, we will also safeguard our relationships with traditional friends and our independence," emphasized Vucic.

"We worked on this with a lot of love and energy. Everything we have achieved is nothing compared to what we plan to do in the next four years. We used Expo as an occasion to set goals for ourselves that we have not been able to achieve so far. What we will present tonight relates to all people in Serbia, of all nationalities, regardless of their opinions. Everyone must equally participate and help in this. The essence of all projects converges into one, and that is a successful Serbia under the motto 'Leap into the Future 2027'", said Vucic.

He stressed the need for full social cohesion, meaning care for the poorest, those easiest to harm, who haven't had enough opportunities or chances in the previous period.

"Society can progress only if we provide equal opportunities to everyone. We must not deepen further divides, although this happens everywhere in the world," added the President of Serbia.

He also mentioned that in 2012, Serbia's GDP was 33 billion euros, and by the end of 2027, if successful, it will be 92.7 billion euros.

"We hope for somewhat more favorable geopolitical conditions, new investments, and then we could reach 100 billion. Everything our generations have built and created as a kind of legacy. All that our grandfathers and grandmothers, parents built – we will be able to create three times greater value annually in four years. This is unprecedented in the history of Serbia," said Vucic.

He pointed out that in the next four years, it is planned to invest 17.8 billion euros in the presented projects and emphasized that public debt must not exceed or approach 69 percent.

"In the next four years, we plan, believe it or not, just for these projects and what we want to achieve, to invest a total of 17.8 billion euros. That is at the level of an annual budget. And not for a second should public debt exceed the Maastricht level," he explained.

He highlighted that by the end of this year, the average salary will be 958 euros, in 2025, for the first time, the average salary will exceed 1,000 euros, and by 2027, it is predicted to be 1,400 euros.

Vucic stated that he is doing all of this for the youth and emphasized that living conditions will be much better, calling on people who have gone abroad to return to the country.

"Regarding pensioners, the average pension this year was 391 euros, and by the end of 2027, we expect the pension to be 650 euros. This will be a quantum leap, a leap into the future, for our pensioners," emphasized Vucic.

He conveyed that the minimum wage will be increased to 650 euros, demonstrating care for the people.

He reminded that in 2012, the unemployment rate was 25%, and today, despite population outflows and deaths, there are 550,000 more employed people in Serbia.

Until now, he reminded, 378,000 dinars were allocated for the firstborn child, and from now on, the state will provide 500,000 dinars for the firstborn child.

"For the second child, there will be support of 600,000 dinars from the state! This is a significant difference compared to the previous period. Special rewards will be provided for those who, like Mrs. Filic, have many children. These are people who think about the future of our country. We must work on this for Serbia to exist. Everything we do will be worthless if we don't have children," announced the President.

He pointed out that a lot of money has been invested in healthcare, and Serbia has several drugs for rare diseases, which are not available anywhere else in the region.

"We have also decided to reconstruct almost all maternity wards in the next 4 years. First Belgrade, then Nis, Kragujevac, Novi Sad. We will do the same in agreement with the President of the Republic of Srpska, to do the same in Banja Luka. When a mother wants to give life and then goes to facilities where the tap in the toilet doesn't work, or it's not clean and tidy, then that's bad for us. If we want more children and can't arrange maternity wards, then we are hypocritical. We waited for two years for projects for Visegradska and Narodni Front. They will finish them in 2 months, and then we will go to work on location conditions," he emphasized.

Speaking about the construction of roads and railways, he said that from 2012 to today, 468 kilometers of roads have been built, and the plan is to build a total of 955 kilometers by 2027.

"And from 1945 to 2012, almost half was built. We have left from Kosev to Preljina, a section, it will be completed by 2025. Next is Pakovrace-Pozega, we have 19.5 km left, and it will be finished by October of this year. The Sremska Raca-Kuzmin section, 19 km long, with the bridge in Sremska Raca, will be completed by the end of 2025. The Fruska Gora Corridor, a total of 47.5 km, will be done by June 2026," he reminded.

At this moment, he said, three large bridges are being built over the Danube, which has never happened in the history of our country.

Regarding railways, he added, almost everything is being built as if everything is new.

"We are now building 108 kilometers of the most modern Belgrade-Subotica railway. And by the end of this year, we will go from Belgrade to the center of Subotica in an hour and 12 minutes. That is simply incredible. The Nis-Brestovac railway will be reconstructed by 2027, and the Zemun Polje-Nikola Tesla Airport railway will be built. One of the most important projects is the fast Belgrade-Nis railway, 230 kilometers long. It will take an hour and 40 minutes to reach Nis, no matter what car you have, you won't be able to get to Nis that fast. I believe we can do this by 2028," Vucic added.

In the end, he called on all citizens of Serbia to participate in the country's development project, making it the project of the generation.

"This has nothing to do with politics. I invite even those who don't like me to participate, to fight for the Serbia they dream of. I am confident that we will fulfill our plan. When we succeed in that, we have done what we wanted and realized our dreams," concluded Vucic.