"I told them my words were no joke - and some understood"

"I told them my words were no joke - and some understood"

"I presented our view, I showed documents that indicate Marko Djuric did not violate the procedure (while visiting Kosovo)... I don't pay attention to what is written in the domestic, really foreign media, that someone had wanted to do something, or to sacrifice Djuric, that's nonsense. I lined up the facts and showed them to them. We'll see how we'll be solving things in the future, when you have conflicts, you have to strive to solve them through conversation. We'll see what that will look like," Vucic said.

He added that the Serb people "today feel incomparably safer today than yesterday," and that he also spoke with US State Department official Wess Mitchell, while the common stance is that "peace is of essential importance."

"As for the conversation with Mogherini, both sides were mentioned in the first reaction. Now that is not in the statement, because it's the worst kind of hypocrisy to talk about disproportionate use of force. It was an unlawful use of force... I am hearing from our political opponents and reading in the media various nonsense... We were talking only about the facts and to me the intention was completely clear. I can talk about how the entire north of the Serbian province was surrounded by Kosovo forces, they created a complete ring in order to show what they want it to look like. There were no deaths and serious casualties. We did not give them a chance to take the north of Kosovo; we did that by conducting a sharp, smart and wise policy and we made it clear that neither the Serbs nor Serbia can be played with. I am fascinated neither by their strength, power, nor their brains, so the situation has been made easier for me," said Vucic.

Asked to comment on media reports that he intended to "raise the Army", Vucic said he would "not speculate on this" - but that according to the Constitution, he is "in charge of commanding, and his job is to protect our people and citizens of our country."

"Kosmet (Kosovo and Metohija) is a part of Serbia's territory according to the Constitution, we have special rules, but others have to respect them, too, and that is that there are no long guns and no armed force in northern Kosovo. I have not made such a decision, when I do - and I hope that I never will, and I'll do my best to never do - it is understood that's one of the possibilities, when the country and the people are endangered. I said that my words are not a joke, that I adhere to my words when they are serious and responsible. It seems to me that some have understood it well that this is no time to play with Serbia, that Serbia is not as weak as they would like it to be," Vucic said.

As for the decision of the Serb List to leave the ruling coalition in the self-proclaimed state, Vucic said they would join the opposition and act as "people's tribunes who will receive support from Serbia," but he also noted that the Serbs "never want to join together, or feel sorry for Djuric in Kosovo or Vucic in Srebrenica" - a reference to the attack he came under in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2015.