Vucic: Serbia is ready to fulfill agreements, but we will not recognize the independence of Kosovo

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today that Serbia was not in an easy position regarding Kosovo, after the events in Banjska and last week's talks in Brussels, but there was no reason to worry.

Vucic, during his appearance on TV Prva, stated that he would push the country forward.

"We have endured and will continue to endure," Vucic said on TV Prva.

He did not want to go into details of the talks in Brussels, but one example he noted is that they claimed one person died in Banjska, to which he responded, "No, four".

"They still say one, I say four, these are things you have to react to, and we have learned more or less everything else," Vucic said.

He emphasizes that Belgrade said and still says that it was ready to fulfill things "that do not imply the de facto or de jure recognition of Kosovo and Kosovo's membership in international organizations, such as the UN".

"We are ready, but someone has to form the CSM, and they do not want to, so the whole story is like a vicious circle, Albanians come up with tricks that some in the West pretend not to see. The problem is that all of this is at the expense of our people in Kosovo and Metohija," Vucic said.

Vucic also said that he had not asked for any accompanying letter but, he said, had written a sentence that said Belgrade was ready to fulfill its obligations in accordance with the agreed-upon terms, but that meant Belgrade could not accept the independence of Kosovo.

"I said that on January 21st, publicly at press conferences, in Ohrid, Scholz, and Macron in Chisinau, every time. So that no one misuses it, and pretends I didn't say it. Because there are no signatures, only oral agreements, to know that we are willing to talk, and I always say what we are not willing to accept," Vucic said.

According to him, Kurti is talking about signatures precisely because he does not want to form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, which, he emphasizes, is the only thing related to something that has been signed - the Brussels Agreement from 2013.

He added that there were politicians in some countries who did not want to see the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, like Alicia Kearns in Great Britain or some in Germany.

On the other hand, he added, the Government in Germany was now seeking the implementation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, and there were "some influential circles".

He added that at the European Council, they had not even managed to condemn Serbia for Banjska in the conclusions.

"After they couldn't make it a 'terrorist act', they demanded the condemnation of the attack on the Kosovo Police by a paramilitary group supported by Serbian authorities. That's what the neighbors wanted to insert, but it didn't pass," Vucic said.

In response to the statement that initially Albania and Croatia demanded this, Vucic pointed out that given that Albania was not an EU member, it was not present at the European Council.

"I don't even need to say it, everyone knows," he added.

Regarding what will happen next with Kosovo – whether the resolution process is in a deadlock, and if February is the expected date for an agreement, Vucic responded that all of this was nonsense.

"This is the 50th time I've heard about a timeframe... It doesn't make any sense. It's very difficult for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, especially now in the north, because they are not only against Albin Kurti's regime... The Kosovo Police, in its composition, which must be 98 percent Serbs according to agreements, had no business in the north. That's the problem on the ground," Vucic explained.

He said that Serbia was criticized for not fulfilling the agreement from 2011.

"This is an agreement from 12 years ago when the people from the 'anti-Serbia list' were in power, from customs seals to everything else, with customs seals not being a big deal. Now they are the ones telling us, in whose time we lost statehood in Kosovo, in whose time 27 countries recognized Kosovo. Those who released the Mazrek brothers," Vucic recalled.

He stated that the Serbian Government was responsible enough to protect the country despite the efforts of many at home and abroad to impose sanctions, to isolate Serbia, which had not happened.

"We had many friends, and not just Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania, but also Spain, France, and many others. There will always be our neighbors who will unconditionally and no matter what always be against us, who long to see a weaker Serbia. And I'm talking about one neighboring country," Vucic said.

When asked to comment on the statement by Zdravko Ponos, who said, "The opposition must press Vucic regarding the Banjska case", Vucic pointed out that Ponos was a citizen of a country that demanded measures against Serbia.

"That country didn't request pressure, but harsher measures. But these political Janissaries always have to be stronger in their demands. He had to use an Andric-like expression. Instead of thinking about how to help your country, you think about tearing down its political representatives. But people see who is always with their people and who turns their back and wants to have a petty advantage. Every topic is important to me, and I answer for each one. Am I wrong? Of course, I make mistakes, but I try to work diligently to help my country and people, not everyone else," Vucic concluded.

The President recounted that in Brussels, he had sat across from six people who "gave him papers to sign".

"I sat across from all of them, those six people, and Macron told me to sign three papers. I sit there alone, and I have to stand up to those I know are bigger and stronger. I count how much bigger and stronger they are, but still, I have the Constitution. I don't want to sign, but even if I wanted to, I have a Constitution to which I've sworn, which I love and respect," Vucic said.

He said it had been expected of him and asked of him two or three days ago.

When asked about their reactions, Vucic said they were reasonable people, but he was not sure if they were pleased.

"But, what can they do? They see someone determined in front of them who says what's possible, what's not, what he wants, what he doesn't. I haven't lied to them for a moment. From the beginning, I've told the truth. Everything I've said in our parliament and what I said we would do, we will do," Vucic said.

It is important that the one who wins the elections has a clear mandate until 2027.

When asked about the elections, Vucic said that he would announce them on Wednesday or Thursday for December 17th.

"We have fulfilled all the requirements, both the unwritten and the incorrectly written ones," Vucic said.

He emphasized that these elections were important for securing a clean mandate until 2027 because, as he added, there would not be new elections before then.

"For us and the people, it's important that whoever wins has a clean mandate until 2027. Until then, there won't be elections. At that time, there will be all kinds of elections: provincial, presidential, parliamentary, local. The essence is that there's a clear mandate that will lead us to the point of no return to the past, that the country is moving forward," Vucic said.

In this regard, he also stated that the goal was for the average salary to be 1,400 euros by 2027, and the average pension to be 620 euros.

He said that the Serbian Progressive Party would ask them to admit that they had lost on any level the same evening if it happened.

When asked if he thought it was possible, he said it was.

We are approaching a major global conflict, antagonisms are growing

Asked if the world was moving towards a third world war, Vucic said the world was on the brink of a global conflict, on the verge of regional conflicts due to the influence of great powers seeking their "proxies" in current crises.

He said he feared such a situation every day and that Serbia was never as strong as he would like it to be, neither economically nor militarily, but he also knew how far ahead it was compared to 15 years ago.

He said that Serbia now had oil reserves to cover current consumption for more than 40 days, and new storage facilities would be built.

Regarding gas, Serbia currently has 700 million cubic meters in storage in the country and Hungary.

"If a third world war breaks out, we will have enough," he stressed.

He said it was difficult to avoid a world conflict because there was growing economic power on one side that did not only come from the West, which wanted to preserve its dominance. It had been seen, for example, in the case of Israel, which had a strong army, that some smaller actors could fight and achieve at least short-term success.

"When someone smells blood somewhere and thinks they can continue, they will do it. We have a rather difficult situation in Ukraine, where it is clear that the West will find it very difficult to defeat the Russians, just as the Russians will find it difficult or not easy to defeat the Ukrainians. When you have such a situation, outside the conflict, you have the United States and China, but the United States is clearly and openly on the side of Ukraine and Israel. Unfortunately, we are getting closer to that, antagonisms are growing. The desire for a different distribution of wealth in the world is increasing, they want more and more, a new world order. That's why we need security and stability," Vucic explained.