Vučić: "We will respond with serious politics"

Vučić: "We will respond with serious politics"

He announced that in the coming days a cornerstone will be laid for a completely new factory that will produce a Chinese vaccine against coronavirus in our country, and reminded that the first component of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is already being produced in Serbia, while it has already been considered to produce another component of that vaccine.

Vučić also pointed out for this paper that Serbia, when it comes to environmental protection, will respond to the problems with a serious policy, but that, as he said, it will not give up on the industrialization of the country. Vučić noted that resistance to coronavirus vaccination is obviously universal, and not a problem of only one country.

"Why this is so - I do not understand. However, conspiracy theories and negative messages obviously reach better than positive ones. Social networks also play a role in that, as well as the fact that people see their freedoms in unreasonable attitudes," Vucic explained the reasons for the fact that vaccination has slowed in Serbia.

When asked how Serbia treats the topics of environmental protection, he pointed out that this topic is becoming increasingly important, because people in Serbia see that the standard of living is growing, that new factories and roads are being built.

"The question is whether this is really the most important topic or just one important topic. It is also a matter of political abuse. We will respond to that with a serious policy, which means improving the quality of air and water, in which we will invest a lot of money", he explained.

Vučić reminded that "Serbia 2025" agenda envisages that more than 120 municipalities be connected to the sewerage network, as well as that wastewater treatment plants be built in all cities, and that asbestos pipes be removed from the water supply network.

"We will do all that, but I will not participate in the deindustrialization of Serbia. We want even more industry and factories, and we must find a middle ground between environmental protection and the economy, but not at the cost of our economy not growing further," he said.

Asked about Serbia's European path and how he views the fatigue from EU enlargement, Vucic said that the heads of diplomacy of the European Union pointed out at a recent meeting that Serbia was making progress on the issue of the rule of law, adding that this was not enough.

"We have also raised the level of harmonization with the EU foreign policy from 46 to more than 62 percent. I believe that by the end of the year we will open certain clusters according to the new accession methodology. But it is important for us to know that we are sincerely on the European path. We must also look at our economic growth and we cannot wait until the mood in the EU changes. We want to do everything to become an EU member and we have no other path, but because of that we certainly won't spoil relations with Russia and China," he concluded.