Vučić: Our Support Goes to Ukraine

Vučić: Our Support Goes to Ukraine

"Last night, we had an informal dinner in Athens in an unusual format, 5 plus 1. Present were President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, EU officials Charles Michel, Ursula von der Leyen... I have just concluded a meeting with Zelensky, and meetings with Mitsotakis and Milatović are upcoming, around noon," said President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić from Athens.

He also mentioned that they spoke with Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel and explained that the EU is preparing a growth program for Western Balkan countries.

He announced that he will also have discussions with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović.

He also commented on Albin Kurti's speech in Tetovo, North Macedonia, stating that the President of North Macedonia spoke sharply against Kurti's appearance in Tetovo, which surprised many.

"His speech was very sharp and substantial," said Vučić and added, "Andrej Plenković also gave a substantial speech, which is not easy for me to admit... I had an open conversation with Zelensky who asked about the opinions of people in Serbia, why they think that way, and I reminded him of the 90s and emphasized that Serbia respects territorial integrity and that remains the case." He mentioned that he explained the situation regarding Kosovo and discussed the future of Ukraine's development...

As he expressed, he spoke with Zelensky about our approach to territorial integrity, confirming that we respect Ukraine's and that won't change, unlike those who don't respect Serbia's.

He stated that Serbia supports Ukraine on its European path.

"I talked about... We talked about cooperation in the future. These people are in a big conflict today, but they must think about how to rebuild the country. I explained the situation regarding Kosovo. I believe there won't be a change in Ukraine's stance towards our territorial integrity. We supported Ukraine on its European path. The declaration was adopted last night. There were 14 of us at the table, and everyone sought a stronger narrative and language. As a small country, we cannot change what the big ones do, but we managed to ensure that things contrary to our policy are not included in the declaration," President Vučić said.

He added that Ukraine has never done anything against Serbia, just as Serbia hasn't done anything against Ukraine.

He emphasized that Serbia is trying to protect its interests.

"We did not agree with the implementation of sanctions, there is another part, but I will address that precisely later," President Vučić noted.

Journalist Questions

Regarding the issue on which they did not reach an agreement, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, responded:

"We did not reach an agreement on the application of sanctions. There's another part, but I will address that precisely later."

As he mentioned, the autumn will be hot, because the situation between Russia and Ukraine is neither easy nor straightforward.

"There will be many issues. Von der Leyen and Michel emphasized that the energy situation in Europe is much better, but I'm concerned about oil prices if they continue to rise. I believe the warehouses are stocked and that electricity and gas won't become too expensive."

He commented on the presence of Albin Kurti, stating that there's no problem with Albin Kurti being present in Athens.

"There were no flags, only people's names. Greece was very fair. Today, I will have a conversation with Greek friends. We had a brief discussion with Greek officials, and I believe the conversation with Mitsotakis will be good. He confirmed that there will be no change in the stance regarding the recognition of Kosovo," Vučić said.
He added that he is convinced the same will be true for Ukraine.