Vucic: Ending cooperation with Israel could call relations with US into question

Aleksandar Vucic, lead candidate of the United Serbia list, said today that ending cooperation with Israel could affect Serbia’s relations with the United States, stressing that Washington closely monitors how other countries approach their relations with Israel.

Speaking about the political situation and Serbia’s future, Vucic said that he felt humiliated and deeply troubled by the fact that Serbia would, as he put it, have to go through certain political processes.

“It seems that way to me because I feel humiliated, because I am to blame for the fact that people like that defeated us. I feel humiliated, I feel miserable, I feel bad because Serbia will have to go through all of this. Some will be at the negotiating table, while others will sit somewhere in an armchair, behind a screen or a wall, deciding what can and cannot be done. The outcome will be very bad—you will see that for yourselves. I am not going to tell you anything more,” Vucic stressed.

Speaking about relations with Israel and the United States, Vucic warned that ending cooperation with Israel could call Serbia’s cooperation with Washington into question.

“When you end cooperation with Israel, it means there will be a major question mark over cooperation with the United States. People simply need to understand that. The Americans always pay attention to your relationship with Israel, and I know that from my conversations with Marco Rubio, Mr. Landu and Mr. Trump. I hope they will continue the Strategic Dialogue, just as Brendan Hanrahan said, because that is important for our country. I want success, not failure. But when someone rushes ahead and says what they think people want to hear, without considering the fate of the country and without understanding that their responsibility is incomparably greater when they are governing a country, then we have a problem. Then we have a problem,” Vucic said.

Vucic also spoke about the visit by representatives of the Students’ List to Bishop Teodosije in Gracanica, claiming that they had good cooperation with Albin Kurti, while he himself, he said, had been prevented from entering Kosovo for years.

“I have seen that they have very good cooperation with Albin Kurti, which could also be seen from their reception by Bishop Teodosije in Gracanica. I have not been able to enter Kosovo and Metohija for years, not even as a private citizen. They issued a statement saying that Teodosije had received representatives of the Students’ List. They knew all of that very well, and that is precisely why they were given permission. For example, no one from my family can even enter privately because Albin Kurti does not allow it. But he allows them. So people should think about why he allows them in, why Rasic praises them so highly, and why he does not allow us in,” Vucic said.

He announced that the first CPAC Balkans conference would be held in Belgrade in January and would be attended, he said, by people close to US President Donald Trump.

“The Americans are organizing it, and in January I will be pleased to speak about it. These people are close to President Trump, and there will be several guests. I believe that someone from the Government, if it has been formed by then, will be invited to welcome the participants at the gathering. I think it will be highly significant for our country in terms of ideas and ideology, particularly because it will be held here in Belgrade. We will have an opportunity to speak about traditional, conservative and family values, the values of traditional society, as well as our right to fight for those values,” Vucic said.