Vucic says Belgrade not interested in creating Greater Serbia

Andrej Isaković/AFP

President Aleksandar Vucic said during an Atlantic Council event on Thursday that Belgrade is not interested in creating a Greater Serbia.

“To us, Greater Serbia means a better economy, more factories, a green agenda without jeopardizing the economy, better wages, better infrastructure,” he said in the Atlantic Council Conversation event, adding that he knws that people don’t trust him. “It’s clear to me that it will take time to prove that we are honest,” he said. Vucic said that people are returning to the region after leaving over the past 25 years. “We need young, talented, smart people to return, not new wars and instability,” he said, adding that only the stupid think that talk of war will bring victor at elections. “We won’t allow that. Even if anyone wants to go to war, they won’t go to war with us and we can guarantee that,” he said.

According to Vucic, the United States need Serbia as a friend and added that Serbia can’t advance without American support. “We are serious about developing relations with the US,” he said. The Serbs underestimated the role of the US and did not understand what happened when the Berlin Wall fell, he said and expressed the hope that they understand the current political situation in the world.

Vucic said that trust between Serbs and Albanians has to be reinforced to achieve a compromise solution for Kosovo. “We have to strengthen trust between us, we are not enemies and we can’t create an atmosphere of enmity. We need a completely different atmosphere to find a solution,” he said. He said that he insists on the free flow of goods and people so that business people and ordinary people can talk to each other. According to him, one of the reasons why little progress has been achieved lies in the fact that “leading Western countries are waiting for Serbia to recognize Kosovo”. “When I ask what we’ll get in return, they don’t say anything. They won’t guarantee European Union membership, they won’t guarantee anything,” he said.