Vucic: I will not sign the capitulation, Lajcak did not make any progress in Pristina

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, assessed this evening that the EU's envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, apparently did not make any progress in Pristina and criticized the EU for making a decision on visa liberalization for Kosovo at this moment, stressing that it encourages Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti to continue non-fulfilment of the obligations.

"Lajcak was in Pristina today and according to what I saw from the statements there, hardly any progress was made. Everything is a matter of interpretation, but I am almost certain that Kurti is determined not to form the CSM, and that it is easy for him to do so is shown by today's decision of the EU to cancel the visa regime for the citizens of so-called Kosovo", Vucic explained for TV Happy.

In the Cirilica show, he said that he had nothing against the decision to cancel visas to Kosovo, but that the problem is the moment when it was made.

"The moment it happens shows that they are not ready to put pressure on Kurti, but it is encouraging Kurti for not fulfilling the obligations he has. That's a problem," added Vucic.

He said that Lajcak would arrive in Belgrade on Monday, where he would stay until Wednesday.

"I will spend two days working with him in an attempt to find some kind of way forward to normalize relations", he announced.

Vucic: I will not sign the capitulation

Vucic said that he would never sign Serbia's capitulation, nor would he accept Kosovo's independence, as well as Kosovo's membership in the United Nations, which, he adds, he has already repeated several times to all international representatives.

He said that the citizens must understand the moment Serbia is in, adding that it is probably the most difficult ever, because there is not even 10 meters of space where Serbia could pass without NATO around it, and that it cannot even obtain military equipment which it buys.

Vucic also pointed out that in a situation where war was raging in Ukraine, no one wanted to understand the special needs, opportunities and circumstances that Serbia was facing, as well as everything related to the aggression from 1999, and the position on territorial integrity.

He stated that Serbs like to pretend that nothing happened in 1999, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, even though a lot of bad and difficult things happened for Serbia regarding Kosovo.

"No one from the state leadership of Serbia, neither me nor anyone else, wrote any plan, proposal. It was written by Western powers from Germany and France, with the support of America. These are the ones to whom someone from the UN gave back the ability to make decisions regarding the relationship between Belgrade and Pristina, and it was neither Vucic nor anyone from the current government," said Vucic.

He said that citizens should not be worried, although there were many untruths.

"They must know that it never occurs to me to sign Serbia's capitulation. There is no need for anyone to tell me what the plan is, because I know it better than they do. I have participated in 300 negotiations; I know every detail and trifle. I said myself that the plan is bad, but we have to understand the circumstances in which everything is happening, what the circumstances are, that we have to stay in talks and what we can implement. There will be no capitulation and surrender. I made it clear that Serbia will not agree and will not accept Kosovo's entry into the UN, nor will it accept Kosovo's independence in one way or another," said the Serbian president.

He stated that Pristina must establish the CSM, but he is convinced that it will not do so.

"Serbia is fair, honest and does not play games, but is serious and responsible. People understand that in the last 15 days we have done something important for the country, since the opening of the Continental factory, so we received 150 million Euros from the EU for energy, and 610 million Euros as a gift for the high-speed railway... I know there are smart people who will say that I measure the holy land with money".

He adds that the people are worried, because they are aware of the difficult situation the country is facing, but the opposition, he says, is faking concern, and it is worried, in fact, only because he did not sign anything in Brussels, although, he says, they were passionately hoping for it.

"Because they have nothing else to offer the citizens...Like Ponos, Obradovic, Stamenkovski, Jeremic... It's a joke, the people would starve to death... It's important to preserve Serbia and its future," said Vucic.

He added that the Serbs must try to reconcile with the Albanians, but that he is not optimistic because he knows who is on the other side.

"They are deliberately harassing Serbs. Kurti will see his salvation and way out in attacks on Serbs and provocations. I guarantee it. He says, CSM not possible without recognition, he doesn't really care. He got a visa-free regime, he will get membership in the Council of Europe, and they will consider that as normal, and they will ask us to support it," said Vucic.