Vucic on the "Open Balkans": It is an extraordinary idea; I would like Montenegro to join as well

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said tonight that the "Open Balkans" initiative is an extraordinary idea, which brings benefits to the citizens of the countries that participate in it, adding that he would like Montenegro to join it as well, and that he cannot understand why Sarajevo does not want to join.

"I can't imagine Sarajevo refusing to be in the 'Open Balkans', especially if someone else joins. Well, when they go to Zlatibor, and some will have a 5 or 10 percent discount, or a five or 10 percent discount at the pumps with the 'Open Balkans' card, and they will have nothing... I wish someone explained to me why, I don't understand," Vucic said for RTS.

When stating that the competition for the "Open Balkans" is the Berlin process, as well as the new initiative of the "Western Balkans Four", Vucic said that the Berlin process was fine, and that the goal was to show Serbia "where it belongs".

"It is made up of Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro, there is no formal part, but they boasted about it and wrote - '100 percent we support all EU decisions'. If I wanted to joke and be malicious, I would say that they could have put a slogan - '100 percent we are not ourselves, everything is decided by others on our behalf'. They can only hire someone to copy the decision from Brussels, because they did not make a different decision," Vucic said.

He added that their goal was to show Serbia "where it belongs".

"'Open Balkans' is an extraordinary idea, we are attracting Albanian businessmen from North Macedonia," Vucic said.

When asked if Montenegro would join, he answered that he would like it does so, recalling that both Dritan Abazovic and Jakov Milatovic said they were in favor of it.

"We'll see, it's their sovereign decision," Vucic said.

Serbia lent a hand to Montenegro and Jakov Milatovic

Vucic said that Serbia always lent a hand to Montenegro as well as to Jakov Milatovic.

"He is always welcome in Serbia. First he said he would go to Brussels and then Belgrade, then he said Brussels, then Slovenia, then Belgrade. However he decides, he is welcome," Vucic said.

He said that Serbia was ready to do together with Montenegro everything that Montenegro wants to do together with Serbia.

When asked about the elections in Montenegro, Vucic noted that when he had a good relationship with someone, and that someone lost the elections, there were opinions that "Vucic lost", and vice versa, because, as he said, the only Serbia that they wanted to see in the region - a failed Serbia, which would never be small enough, so that they would say it was small or according to their standards.

"I don't understand the unreasonable, from time to time and hysterical, behavior towards Serbia, which was part of ex government in Montenegro.“Serbia and the 'Serbian world' were to blame for everything, and I never uttered that phrase,” Vucic said.

He added that some misused that phrase and it became a bogeyman.

"'The specter of the Serbian world is circling the region. And, they invented it themselves... But, speaking of that, what is it about? It is about the fact that Serbs must never ask anywhere about Serbs - how 32 percent of the population of Montenegro live. I may not ask why Serbs in Slovenia are not a national minority, even though we are the largest ethnic group in Slovenia. I can't, because I'm a Serb, so we're going back in time if we ask this...", Vucic said.