"We showed that state is stronger"

"We showed that state is stronger"

He pointed out that the state spent EUR 210 million in the past period "because of four banks," and that the total cost will be around one billion euros.

"The tycoon system is designed to work directly with politicians," said Vučić and added that "politicians are given money and pay interest for six months."

"A bank cannot operate longer than than and the state must intervene," he was quoted as saying.

"The way we approached the fight carries many dangers and difficulties, as we engage in this battle so we can engage in a battle for a better life," Vučić said.

Although he said he was "a pessimist," he also noted he was "happy because we showed that the state is stronger."

He then emphasized that since his party's been in power, "the law applies equally to all."

"I am grateful that Mr. (Miroslav) Mišković could not help but tell the truth that I never got a penny from him. Some of the prominent rivals, politicians, had joint ventures with Mišković, joint newspapers with Mišković," said the leader of the Progressives.

Speaking about the problems faced by workers, Vučić said he is "not able to solve every problem in Serbia, but was willing to talk to everyone."

He said that during the campaign so far for the March parliamentary elections, he participated in only two or three rallies. "In every city I go to I cannot hold a rally because dissatisfied workers assemble, who consider me guilty and seek support," Vučić said.

"I said that I will not be guilty of something someone else did," he added.

Referring to reforms that are awaiting Serbia, he said:

"We envisaged 21 laws, and this is what we came to do, and what the government is guilty of."

He said in the next two years, special incentives would be provided to those who employ more than 200 people, in order to reduce unemployment in Serbia.

Commenting on the situation in Kosovo, where not long ago a Kosovska Mitrovica assembly councilor was shot and killed, and a candidate in mayoral elections arrested on charge of war crimes, Vučić stated:

"We deal with this in a serious and realistic way, that's what Mr. (Tomislav) Nikolic and Ivica Dačić and I talked about, we also talked it in Brussels...These conversations were often difficult and unpleasant, words are exchanged there that are fit for the public. But we have to take care of our people, about its future."

Vučić claimed that he government was more concerned with the state business than the campaign, and added that his party "did not talk to anyone about what the government should look like after the elections."

Vučić said that the so-called solidarity tax will remain in force for a while, because the economic situation is such that it requires savings.

He recalled that an IMF mission will be "for the first visit a country during an election campaign."

"They will come because they trust me and Finance Minister Lazar Krstić to seriously work to ensure that the deficit does not increase."

He said that the IMF wants EUR 400 million additional savings, and that "all who are now saying in the campaign that no painful cuts should be made, would have to do just that after the election."

Vučić then said that austerity measures "do not preclude a simultaneous struggle for new investments" and announced "EUR 250 million to a billion in good loans."

According to him, by 2016 Serbia "must not have a problem with the fiscal deficit, which will not exceed four percent."

Vučić also spoke about the questioning of former chief of cabinet of Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, Branko Lazarević, and said this was not done "for the sake of the election campaign."

"If tomorrow we bring in (Darko) Šarić, someone will say that he was brought in during the election campaign. Do you think that someone needs this for the sake of results? No, but it is our duty to bring him in," said Vučić.

He added that the suspected drug lord has been charged "and cannot be released in some kind of deal," stressing that "the decision is up to the court" and that "no one should interfere."

United Serbia leader Dragan Marković Palma, a Dačić ally, commenting on the Lazarević case to say that it was "pre-election political propaganda."

"I was shocked at statements made by some people in the (SPS-led) coalition," Vučić said.

The first deputy prime minister in the caretaker government also said that Serbia will not see "the Ukrainian scenario."

"There will be no playing with the state, period," stressed Vučić and added, "chaos, unrest and instability in Serbia - they can forget about that movie."