Vucic: The meaning of Kurti's decision on the bridge is to drag us into war; Serbia will not be in military blocs

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said today that the decision of the Northern Mitrovica Municipal Assembly to open the Ibar Bridge was a decision whose purpose was to drag Belgrade into war and that it was no coincidence that this was happening on the eve of the talks in Brussels on May 2. Vucic underlined that Serbia did not want to become a member of NATO or any other military bloc.

"If that's the point, to drag us into war, I don't understand it," Vucic told reporters.

"Don't you have other dreams, that these people live better and have a salary higher than 450 euros, let's brag about something else. Visit Orahovac, and Suva Reka, and do something for the winemakers there. Don't just cause problems," Vucic said to Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of the Pristina Provisional Institutions.

The President of Serbia added that it was strange that someone was doing this right before the new round of dialogue on May 2.

"That's what these elections were for, now some can cross the bridge from southern to northern Mitrovica to vote," Vucic said.

Vucic also added that "at his expense" Serbia would not become a member of any military pact in the next four years.

"It's not a problem. Replace the entire leadership of the Serbian Progressive Party and choose a new leadership that wants to join NATO, and then I won't be part of that team either. I believe that the correct policy of Serbia is to be militarily neutral. I stand for such a policy as the President of the Republic and I will continue to act as commander-in-chief for four more years," he said.

When asked how he would comment on Kosovo's aspirations to become a member of NATO, Vucic said that it would not be easy, because there were four countries in the Alliance that did not recognize Kosovo.

"Even if one country is persuaded to become a recognizer, there will be very strong resistance from Spain, but also from some recognizer countries, such as our friends, brothers, and sisters from Hungary," Vucic said and pointed out that it did not depend in any way on Serbia.

He said that Pristina was in a hurry and was showing too much nervousness.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Why are you so nervous? They are in a hurry to go somewhere. It seems that they are not quite sure how it will look in Ukraine, so they should hurry as soon as possible, and of course, put additional pressure on Serbia, in order to blame Serbia for everything, and for Kurti to be able to play Zelenskyy," Vucic said.

The President of Serbia said that he was in Belgrade to try to calm passions and to talk with KFOR.

"Let's try to stop the riots, but the man (Kurti) every day produces events that are meant to cause chaos.

I can't think of what he can do tomorrow, but believe me he already has three new ideas about how he will make life miserable for the Serbs and how to drive them away. That is their only policy. They have no other policy. I just wonder when those from the West will see it if they want to see it at all," Vucic said.

Commenting on the Council of Europe's decision to start the procedure for Kosovo's membership in that organization, he pointed out that it had been "a special shame", and that such a thing had never happened in history.

"They think they can do everything, but we will wait for the moment when a slightly different balance of power will be established, in terms of greater respect for international public law, than is the case today," Vucic concluded.