Vucic: Tonight a one-on-one meeting with Macron; I don't believe the formation of the CSM will happen while Kurti is in power

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, stated that he had met with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, briefly twice today in Paris and announced that they would have a bilateral one-on-one meeting tonight at the Elysee Palace. He also said that he had discussed bilateral issues as well as Kosovo with the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo. Vucic reiterated that he had no intention of recognizing Kosovo.

"I have no intention of recognizing Kosovo", Vucic said during his address to the media in Paris, where he is participating in the Peace Forum. 

He announced that he would extend an invitation to Macron to visit Serbia in the near future and expressed his belief that this could happen by the end of the year.

Vucic said that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina would be one of the topics in his meetings in Paris and noted that there had been no initiatives for a meeting with Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti.

"I don't know what I would talk about", Vucic said, adding that Kurti had chosen with whom he would talk among the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As he he says, he doesn't understand how international representatives allowed this and notes the double standards where such things are permitted for him, while they demand respect for the territorial integrity of another country which that country doesn't respect.

"I think it is clear to everyone that Kurti doesn't want to form the CSM; he doesn't want progress in the dialogue, and everything else was Balkan tricks that worked for a day or two. For us, it is important to preserve the lives of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, to maintain peace, but I don't believe that the formation of the CSM will ever happen while Kurti is in power in Pristina", the President of Serbia said.

When asked if there had been any comments on Kurti's stubbornness in not fulfilling what had been agreed upon, Vucic says that even when there were, and there were many more than he expected, he wouldn't publicly discuss them because if they wanted to, they would say it themselves publicly.

He announced that he would have a long conversation with the French President Emmanuel Macron tonight and expressed his gratitude to him.

"Imagine his commitments today, he has 20 presidents and I don't know how many prime ministers here, of all kinds, but he has really shown great respect for Serbia, and this should be an honor for the citizens of Serbia. At 8:15, he will talk with a representative of Serbia about all the important bilateral, regional, and global issues", Vucic said.

He also stated that he had talked with De Croo about the European Commission's report and they both noted Serbia's progress in almost all areas, with no setbacks.

"We talked about Kosovo and Metohija at length, about everything happening in the southern Serbian province, as well as what lies ahead. We discussed bilateral relations, the arrival of Belgian companies in Serbia, and further investments. I asked De Croo to visit Serbia, as he didn't come to Belgrade as he was supposed to within the Benelux trio due to internal matters", Vucic told journalists.

He pointed out that the economic exchange between the two countries had reached almost a billion euros, with 936 million euros at a historical high.

"Belgium is important for Serbia for many reasons. We discussed all regional and many other important matters", he added.

Vucic reported that he had attended the beginning of the Peace Forum, and had talked with the President of Ghana, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain, and almost all regional leaders.

He also said that he would have talks with regional and world leaders, from which he expected a lot.

He noted that it could be noticed that the world's focus was slowly shifting to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the initiative to allow countries a higher deficit rate if they had foreign exchange reserves, the so-called dormant capital, was very interesting for Serbia.

"Today we have 24 billion in foreign exchange reserves, and we had 10.2 billion. Of course, this strengthens our economy and currency, but people don't see that money in their pockets. That money could lead to faster growth and accelerate the conditions for an incomparably higher standard of living. This is a medium and long-term issue, and we will never jeopardize our monetary stability on our own, but changes will happen in the world", Vucic added.

The Serbian President also said that from the initial strong condemnation of Hamas, public opinion in France and Belgium was slowly shifting to the other side, and there were complications in the way this issue was being addressed.

"So, we are in a difficult position. Whether that is good or bad, it is up to the people to decide", he said.

When asked to comment on the statements of Slobodan Samardzic and Marko Jaksic from a panel where they said that elections were "necessary for Vucic because of the recognition of Kosovo", Vucic said that everyone operated within the limits of their own wickedness.

He adds that during their time, Kosovo had become independent for the Albanians in Kosovo and a large part of the international community, and the Party Dveri had been in a coalition with them, and states that while "the Serbs were trying to save their lives in Kosovo, they were trying to make money for themselves".

He reminds that during their time, 85 countries recognized independent Kosovo, and since he became President, more than 20 have withdrawn their recognitions, and WikiLeaks dispatches showed that they begged not to recognize Kosovo before the elections.

"I have no intention of recognizing Kosovo, and I will never do it, but for 11 years, I have been listening to these lies, hearing their lectures that I will impose sanctions on Russia, but Vucic has not imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation. That's the truth about who is telling the truth and who is lying", he said.

When asked to comment on the fact that BIRODI (Bureau for Social Research) had called for his resignation and for presidential elections to be held, Vucic says that they are not asking for his resignation.

"They want something else, for me not to participate in the campaign, but I do want to, not in spite of them, although I would love to be able to participate in spite of them for at least one day, but as the President, I have no right to do anything out of spite. I want to participate in the campaign for the sake of the people and to prevent them from destroying Serbia in three days, as they destroyed the state when Montenegro seceded, which was a prerequisite for Kosovo's secession", he said.

He notes that during their time, a Prime Minister was killed and ironically adds that he doesn't understand why he bothers them.