Jankovic denies he's "distancing himself" from Democrats

Jankovic denies he's "distancing himself" from Democrats

"A state that is conditioned only by objective economic, military and geopolitical factors is in an incomparably stronger position than the one that is blackmailed also because of its corrupt elite. We are not being led to Europe, whatever he may say, by a candidate of the authorities who has shown himself to despise the core European values ​​that I have been persistently advocating for years," Jankovic said.

When the interviewer noted that Jankovic has been criticized for "running away from politics in his campaign, and dealing exclusively with citizens' rights issues," the former ombudsman replied:

"Re-establishment of the state, the integrity of the institutions, respect for the law and rights, today is not an academic topic, but the only thing that can protect us from the arbitrariness of local power-wielders and bring back the peace. Restoring Serbia from the hands of a private band into a serious state will therefore be my key move."

Speaking about his stance on Kosovo and Metohija, Jankovic said his goal was "to create such a Serbia where Albanians, too, will want to live, instead of Serbs, too, leaving it."

"In the short term, we need to focus on the protection and the quality of life of people in Kosovo instead of the fiction of sovereignty," said Jankovic.

On the issue of Serbia's military neutrality and the possibility of this being included in the Constitution, he said the constitutional reform process needs a broader consensus in order to start - broader that what a commission coordinated by Zoran Babic from the SNS, on a decision of Aleksandar Vucic, "will ever be able to secure."

"Under the conditions of serious work we will see if the policy of neutrality should be raised to the level of a constitutional principle," Jankovic said.

Jankovic believes that cooperation with any military alliance must be "at the same time" in order to strengthen national defense.

"We will cooperate with all international partners when it is in the interest of national defense and building a safer environment. What partners these are is a state, not a partisan or personal decision," he said.

Asked whether the impression was correct that he was trying to distance himself from the DS party in his campaign, Jankovic replied:

"These 'impressions' are an attempt to drive a wedge between the excellent associates, and whenever (DS leader) Dragan Sutanovac and I hear them, we laugh. The DS has historical merit for the development of democracy in Serbia, some of its officials have made huge mistakes, but some of them and many members made great sacrifices. I am glad that our cooperation has helped the DS to return to its original principles and values."

In this, he said, he "decided to be a man of the state, not of a political party."

"As president of Serbia, I want to create an atmosphere where people will engage in politics without blackmail and fear, rather than for the sake of surviving and having raw power, which is why today many loathe politics," said Jankovic.