Vucic: It is clear that we will have extraordinary parliamentary elections; Brnabic: I am ready to resign

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said tonight in a joint address with Prime Minister Ana Brnabic that it was clear that there would be early parliamentary elections in the country.

"It's only a question of the month, exactly when they will be held. Tensions in society are always resolved by elections. Some created those tensions because they had political demands and demands of tycoons to implement their interests," Vucic said.

He pointed out that it would not happen that someone took power on the street, stressing that he had invited all those who were dissatisfied and wanted changes, to a conversation.

He expressed the hope that among the opposition there would be those who have an understanding for Serbian society, and not only for political interests.

"I believe that we will still find interlocutors among those who should have more seriousness and responsibility, and if not - we will go to the elections. We are going to accelerate the dissolution of the National Assembly of Serbia because there are deadlines. The Prime Minister is submitting her resignation to the National Assembly, and I, as the President, have the obligation to offer mandates to someone else to form the government in the next 30 days," Vucic said.

He pointed out that the Serbian Progressive Party did not want Prime Minister Brnabic to resign because they were satisfied with her work, but that if she did resign, the constitutional deadlines of 45 to 60 days remained for the new elections.

He stated that as president, he would wait for a part of the opposition, to whom he sent an invitation to talk, to respond to that invitation.

"Let it not be that we didn't want them. I will instruct them that this is the only way to get to the elections and to get the support of the citizens. But, there will be no transitional government," Vucic underlined.

He emphasized that he had to decide for the transitional government, and he would never make such a decision.

"There are no talks or negotiations on that issue. Not because it is someone's political whim. As president, I would be more popular to accept and propose such nonsense. But that would be the destruction of Serbia because it would mean that Serbia is governed by some kind of tycoon and foreign powers. While I am the president, I will respect the independence of Serbia. I will never act against the vital interests of Serbia," Vucic said.

A series of economic measures - higher salaries and pensions, 10,000 Serbian dinars for each child

President Vucic also announced a number of economic measures, which would be implemented in the coming period.

Thus, from September 1, there will be a 5.5 percent increase in salaries in education, and then from December 1 by another 10 percent.

The President also announced a 5.5 percent increase in pensions from October 1, and a 14.5 percent increase from January 1, which, he said, cumulatively amounted to almost 21 percent of the increase in pensions.

Nurses and medical technicians will receive a 5.5 percent salary increase starting September 1 and an additional 10 percent in December or January.

"We hope to have the strength for an increase of about 11 percent for doctors, the army, and everyone else in the public sector," the President said.

He pointed out that the price of "Sava" bread would be reduced by three Serbian dinars, from 57 to 54 dinars, and that discussions with the IMF would follow on postponing the increase in electricity prices.

Vucic said that a decision had been made that all children, from newborns to those aged 16, would receive 10,000 Serbian dinars each. Registration would start on August 20th and would last until September 15th, and the money would be paid around September 25th.

Also, another 100,000 vouchers of 5,000 Serbian dinars each for vacations and trips in Serbia would be distributed.

"We will be ready for another 100, 000," Vucic added.

Brnabic: I am ready to resign at any moment

The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, said that she was ready to resign at any moment, adding that she had spoken with the president of the Serbian Progressive Party, Milos Vucevic and that they had agreed that parliamentary elections by the end of the year were the best solution to the situation.

"At any moment, I am ready to resign from the position of prime minister, it is my greatest honor and pleasure to have been in that position, to have been able to work for my country, but in moments like these, talking is the solution. You can count on my resignation on the table, I believe that parliamentary elections by the end of the year are a way out of the crisis. You can count on my resignation," Brnabic said.

She reminded that President Aleksandar Vucic had called for talks 12 days ago, but that none of the politicians and the opposition had responded to those talks, and not only that, but many had said that those who responded would be considered traitors.

She also pointed out that the tragedies that had happened at the beginning of May had deeply affected everyone and had changed the country, and she assessed the action of handing over weapons, which followed, as very successful.

"I did my job hard, giving my best. I am proud of what we did, as well as being one of the closest associates of President Aleksandar Vucic. I don't think that everything we did was perfect, that some things could not have been better, or more efficient, but we often had to make some decisions in a very short time, quickly. The results are unquestionable, clear, and Serbia has never progressed in this way," she explained at the beginning of her presentation.

She said that she considered electronic administration to be one of her biggest legacies because when she had come to power, the registers had also been in paper form.

"Not everything was perfect, we did our best, we fought and I think we have results that each of us, but also the citizens, if they are honest and objective, can be proud of. The tragedy, the monstrous crimes that happened on the 3rd and May 4th of this year completely shocked us, they deeply affected us, moved us and really deeply changed us. I think that this country and each of us individually after those and such tragedies will never be the same as before," she said.

Brnabic once again expressed her condolences to the families of the victims.

She said that the government was trying to immediately adopt certain measures with the president in order to establish a safer and more secure society in the long term.

She reported that a decision had been made on disarmament, employment of additional police officers, amendment of the Criminal Code, the establishment of the Working Group for Mental Health, and the fight against peer and other violence in schools.

"As far as the disarmament of Serbia is concerned, the draft law on the moratorium on the issuance of permits has been prepared. The Ministry of Internal Affairs already started the audit of all issued permits on May 5, and to date, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has completed 32,584 audits. We must complete this work by August 4, according to the Government's decision. We have started checking how persons with permits hold those weapons, so far about 5,000 checks have been carried out. 116 requests for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings have been filed against the owners of the weapons, and this work must be completed by November 4," she emphasized.

She added that the control of shooting ranges had started, adding that 46 of them had been controlled, 76 measures had been ordered, and eight weapons had been confiscated.

As for the arms surrender action, she said that it had been discussed with the president to extend it until the end of June and that the government would make a final decision tomorrow.

"By 7:00 p.m. today, 62,801 weapons, more than two million rounds of ammunition, and 20,119 mines and explosive devices were handed over. This is an extremely successful operation," she underlined.

She mentioned that in July, police officers would be given jobs, and from now on they would be in schools more; then she mentioned psychosocial assistance services for children and parents every day in the territory of Belgrade.

It was agreed, as the Prime Minister says, that psychosocial assistance will be held in Dadovo from May 29 and will continue in two shifts.

"A base of helpers has been formed, a supervisory team has been formed, a mobile team of experts is being created. The idea is that now, the working group will support the adaptation of the school curriculum in order to promote tolerance, the council for the fight against peer violence has been established and we have a concrete work plan. We had experts from Norway and they told us that one of the worst things that can happen in such situations is politicization. Unfortunately, that happened in our country, some politicians took advantage of it and organized protests, and at those protests, we mostly heard only political demands,” Brnabic said.

Vucic: I would like the elections not to be held soon

Asked about the government's criticism of the premature end of the school year, Vucic said that difficult discussions had been held for a month, that it had been difficult to make a decision that everyone would agree on, and that a compromise had been made.

He said that he would never have anything but contempt for politicians and tycoons who were not interested in tragedy, except how to abuse it in the most terrible way, as, he said, no one in the world had ever abused it in such a way.

"There cannot be a transitional government, Serbia is a serious country. You will have to talk once, things in this country cannot be resolved otherwise," Vucic repeated.

He said that he was not happy and that he would like us not to go to the elections soon.

"But I understand Ana Brnabic; she is under a lot of pressure. I am because of Kosovo, and she is because of economic and political matters. Everyone who wants to talk is welcome. From the end of this week, I will start receiving people and various associations for talks. I will try to receive at least 100 per week. Let me hear what the problems are, where they are, with something we will be able to help, and with something we won't," he explained.

Vucic also called on all MPs to take care of what they said because some people watched it.

"When it comes to speeches in the assembly, I heard complaints about both. There I heard wishes that someone from my family end up in the manhole, but it is not discussed. I invite both of them to take care of what and as they say because some people watch it. Personally, I don't have time to watch it," Vucic said.

Speaking about criminal charges against pedophile educators, the president said that there were many criminal charges filed, but that the judiciary, which had to be independent, dealt with it.

He also condemned the fans' songs about Brankica Stankovic and pointed out that he would always be on her side because first and foremost she was a wife and a mother.

When asked about the arrest of a man who had carried a "hanged" doll with his likeness at the protest, Vucic said that he did not want to participate in the prosecution of Savkovic.

"For me, it is important to see the hypocrisy, the first day when Ana showed the 'hanged Vucic', the one about whom his collaborators invent romanticized stories, Aleksic says that he expects to arrest the one who carried it and then measures the hours. They say that 12 hours have passed and then Balsa Bozovic says that Vucic's regime planted something like that and that's why we don't arrest. Then when we did arrest, they said that the State Security Administration had brought him, and when it turned out that it wasn't the State Security Administration, they said that it wasn't a criminal offense and called for a protest because we obeyed what they were asking for," Vucic said.