Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated during the press conference that at the EU summit in Brussels that Serbia has been supportive of the opening of negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania, because according to him, the two countries deserve this.
"Serbia was very supportive of the opening of negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania, as were many countries. But once again nothing happened. Our friends from Skopje and Tirana deserved the start of negotiations and will receive it as soon as possible. It is not a formal request, but the two countries have done everything in relation to European regulation. The citizens of both countries deserve this. If an analysis of our cooperation with the EU in these four months is made, Serbia has increased trade exchanges with the EU by more than 30%. This year we will reach 40 billion euros, which is not so small. We are grateful to Michel, Borel and the commissioner who has supported us on this journey towards the EU. We also discussed Macron's proposal, which means creating a new European political community.
I want to remind you that in the last 4 months, according to the data I received from my services, 2629 articles were published in the European media about Serbia after the Russian attack. Articles saying that Serbia was endangering the entire Western Balkans by deploying troops and endangering Bosnia and so-called Kosovo. "Have you seen a single apology for those media with which the peoples of the EU have been exposed," Vucic said.
Further, the Serbian president stated that he never spoke with Vladimir Putin or Viktor Orban about the "Open Balkans", emphasizing that this initiative was an idea of his, of Edi Rama and Dimitar Kovacevski.
"I am not here to justify our position, because for me as President of Serbia I have the obligation to represent the interests of my people in representation in the Security Council. I believe that together we will be able to resolve as quickly as possible the issue that is so difficult for Northern Macedonia and Albania. We will do our best to increase cooperation between our countries. I ask the Serbian people to visit Northern Macedonia and Albania, to work, to get permits. This is an Open Balkans initiative, for which I am very pleased and I had to say today that it was not the idea of someone else, but it was the idea of the three of us, who wanted to take care of ourselves, our people , for the neighbor.
Dëgjuam një që thoshte se ishte ide e Orban dhe Orban ishte sot aty, nuk e di a i kishte folur dikush për këtë ide atij. Dikush tjetër tha se ishte ide e Putinit, por unë nuk kam folur kurrë me Putinin për këtë, ne e bëmë vetë, nuk kishim nevojë për askënd tjetër. Tri vende që u ulëm bashkë dhe gjetëm zgjidhje për disa probleme. Është e ndaluar kjo? Nuk ka më pak frustrim sot, sa mund të kenë miqtë e mi Edi dhe Dhimitri, por ne mund të bëjmë shumë deri në dhjetor dhe ju premtova miqve evropianë që do bëjmë maksimumin deri në dhjetor të këtij viti dhe më pas besoj që, nuk mund të them nëse nuk do të gëzojmë, të gjithë ne do të jemi më mirë në dhjetor. Edi dhe Dhimitri mbrojtën vendet e tyre dhe interesat e tyre kombëtare në mënyrë kurajoze”, tha presidenti serb.
Vucic also said he had received criticism from European leaders regarding the Russian-Ukrainian issue, because Serbia has not backed EU sanctions against Russia.
"Analyze concrete results, there was no but it was a good discussion. I would not underestimate it. If you ask me if Albania and Macedonia. Pristina got visa liberalization, no, Bosnia got candidate status, no they did not. Of course we were criticized very much by many "Member states because of the Russian-Ukrainian issue, that's what happened. Politics is not always about concrete terms, in the end everything is about results, " Vucic said.