Vučić from Brussels: "What happened was not fair" VIDEO

Vučić from Brussels: "What happened was not fair" VIDEO

Aleksandar Vučić addressed the media from Brussels.

"Today, Serbia gave great support to the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. Again, nothing happened. This is necessary because both countries did everything. I want to thank everyone who supported our country. More than 20 leaders listened to us for several hours and I am also grateful to Macron for the initiative for a new political community. That is the only way for us to be heard, for our European colleagues to hear us. I am also grateful to Rama and Kovacevski for being fair to Serbia, they showed respect", said Aleksandar Vucic.

"In Croatia, they announced that Vučić was being pressured because of Ukraine. I will not hide that I was among the last to speak and point out questions. I want to remind you of what happened in the last four months. Based on the information I received, 2.000 articles were published in the European media about Serbia and how Serbia threatens the entire region and peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, but then nothing happened," Vucic explains.

He added that he is obliged to implement the recommendations of the National Security Council and protect the interests of our people.

After the address of the President of Serbia, questions from journalists followed.

Were there any more concrete decisions for the Western Balkans and what is the main message from Brussels for today?

"Everything I said here, I said openly and publicly in the presence of European Union officials, what was important to us. There were no concrete results, but it was a good discussion and I would never underestimate it. If you ask me if North Macedonia or Albania got a date, they didn't and Bosnia-Herzegovina didn't get a date. Many member states criticized us because of the problem of the war in Ukraine and Russian intervention. Politics is not always about concrete results," Vucic replied.

"I'm not frustrated but I'm sorry for the European Union, so I'm frustrated for them. It's no secret that I care more about the European Union than Aleksandar. When we see that the EU is not able to free two hostage countries from Bulgaria, then this was a historic day, but in a negative sense. I think we will arrive in Europe before the next century, but at the latest. Until then, we will continue with the reforms and if nothing happens, it will be their fault, not ours. We want our citizens to have standard as in the European Union. I did not expect anything else", Rama added.

"I think we will be able to solve difficulties together, such as the one imposed on North Macedonia. We wanted to take care of our region on our own, it was an idea. Someone said it was Putin's idea, and I never talked to him about it. Why would it be necessary? Nobody needed it except us. Finally, I want to thank my European colleagues for their patience. I know today is a great day for them. I understand that Dimitar and Edi are more frustrated than I am, but I think that by September things can turn for the better. We will implement reforms during that time in the field of law and other areas," Vucic added.

"It is not a problem for Kosovo to come, but a problem for the Serbian president to accept it. The final peace will come through the Open Balkans initiative," Rama said.

Is it time to work on regional cooperation in a more active way and to include Montenegro in the initiative?

"We have called on everyone else to join the initiative and everything we do, we do for the benefit of our citizens. That is 70 percent of the citizens of the Western Balkans. Of course we were under pressure from powerful countries and their leaders, but we are getting stronger because we believe in initiative and in ourselves, so we have more self-confidence and faith in ourselves and we know we have to maintain peace and stability in the region. That's all we need. Just look at one day of the war in Ukraine. Do you want to see that? Do not underestimate our initiative. It took us 70 years to meet again, leaders of this type last met in 1946. Now Rama and I are able to cooperate and talk and that is good," Vucic said.

"We are together in this and I believe that my colleagues will agree. It was a less unpleasant experience for me than for the two of them today, but I wanted to show our support for Albania and North Macedonia and they supported us. They do it well. Serbia has no formal obligation to support these two countries, but it has become natural for us. We will see in the winter who will be the first to support your countries and we will always expect support from neighboring countries," Vucic said.

"We thought about not coming because we knew what would happen today. We came to show respect to all the leaders who supported us," Rama explained.