President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday that Serbia will not join NATO because it can safeguard its territory and skies on its own.

“We will guard our children and our future, we have enough soldiers. Our interest is peace and compromise but the time of pogrom and persecution is finished,” Vucic told a gathering in the southern city of Vranje organized by his Serbia Progressive Party (SNS).

He said that he is afraid of what others can bring to Serbia but that he believes that the people will do the right thing at the coming elections. Vucic promised to open new factories and reconstruct the local health care center, build an indoor pool and rebuild sports halls and set up a regional waste management center using state funds.

Vucic also promised a fast railway between the Serbian city of Nis and North Macedonia’s capital Skoplje.