Vucic with journalists in Raska: Any conflict is a conflict with NATO, not with Pristina

After the meeting with the Serbs from Kosovo, President Aleksandar Vucic started a conversation with journalists in Raska. "We will try to contribute to the dialogue, to move towards compromise solutions, but I am a skeptic," Vucic said.

Vucic, answering a journalist's question after the meeting with the representatives of the Serbs from Kosovo, about how much room for maneuver Serbia has left to preserve peace and the Serbs in Kosovo and where possible conflicts would lead, said that he knew the demands of the Serbs.

"The job of the ministers and the president is not to applause to all that but to do everything possible to save people, their lives. If I had not suffered such criticism and lost some of the trust of these people in December, the question is how many of them would not be here today between us," he said.

"Swallow what you have to swallow and do what is good for the people. You were not elected to get applause but to do what is necessary for the country. Do not forget that any conflict is a conflict with NATO, not with Pristina," Vucic underlined.

He asked if anyone thought it was necessary.

"I don't think so. Everything we can avoid, we will always avoid, and I hope we won't get into a situation where we won't be able to avoid it," Vucic emphasized.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he did not expect any reaction from Pristina, stating that there would be even stronger resistance to the elections in the north.

"What kind of reaction do I expect? None, except that they hate me and Serbia even more, and they do that every day. What should they do, go kill people?" Vucic said in Raska, answering questions from journalists.

He mentioned that, if he were in the place of the people in the Pristina authorities, he would analyze the people's resistance to the elections announced in the north.

"And you will see even stronger resistance from the people. I am convinced that some of those who applied for the elections will also leave. Why would they come out, to confirm the new occupying Gauleiter, with 0.65 percent?" President Vucic asked.

When asked if it had been a mistake made after 1999 by accepting that Serbia and Kosovo had been going on two tracks in European integration, he said that he did not think it was the biggest mistake and that there had been some kind of choice.

"We would not be on the European path if things were different. Back then, 22 out of 27 countries, and Great Britain was still a member, another too-powerful force, was against us, and it is still the case today. It is not that simple," he underlined.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, commenting on the fact that the opposition had called him a Teflon politician because, as they stated, no affair stuck to him and his rating was growing, said that people did not believe in lies, but respected the result and work.

Vucic in Raska, answering a journalist's question after a meeting with the Serbs from Kosovo, said that when they lied every day, after 100 of the same lies, people knew that they should not believe it.

"When you lie every day and do nothing else, after 100 such lies, people know they shouldn't believe it," the President said.

He reminded that he and his brother were said to have countless restaurants and pointed out that they didn't have any, as well as the "Jovanjica affair".

"Do you remember Jovanjica Affair and what happened with that? Do I have any connection with that - no, and you have been lying for two years. The only question is whether people believe in work or lies. People do not believe in lies, in the end, they respect the result and the work," the President said.

President Vucic also commented on the fact that the Serbs in Kosovo were not included in visa liberalization because Pristina wanted to show in every way that "Kosovo is a sovereign and independent state" and expressed his belief that the issue would be resolved by the end of the year.

"We are working on it within the dialogue. That was our question from the beginning and they never gave it to us because they wanted to show that Kosovo is a sovereign and independent state and that is why they refused it. Now, within the dialogue, we, already, in the first session mentioned that issue when they started talking about visa liberalization," Vucic said.

He assessed that it was impossible for Pristina to exclude the Serbs from Kosovo from visa liberalization, if they did not want to be "someone else's citizens".

He said that Serbia would continue to look for a solution to the problem of visa liberalization of the Kosovo Serbs and expressed his belief that the issue would be resolved by the end of the year.