Germany "shows understanding" for position on Ukraine

Germany "shows understanding" for position on Ukraine

He said that the meeting touched on the opening chapter 35 in Serbia's negotiations for EU membership, and on continued dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, the reforms that lie ahead, and the recent floods.

According to Vučić, "we enjoy a benevolent and friendly attitude of the German chancellor, we have become a country that is respected and valued and all citizens of Serbia can be proud of that."

"The talks were very friendly from the beginning. Angela Merkel prepared a warm welcome. What they are insisting on and the reason why I think I deserved this invitation is reliability and trust," he told TV Pink.

"I cannot say that we have become a true partner, but we have become a country that is respected," Vučić said, adding that there was "no reason for any celebration" and that much work lies ahead - "but we can be proud that we earned the respect of Germany."

According to him, the talks he held "surpassed his hopes" -but he also emphasized that "all of this for us represents a major commitment to, in the future, show even greater responsibility and a lot of work, especially when it comes to reforms that have been started."

"Serbia has not had this kind of treatment almost a century," asserted the prime minister.

Vučić said he presented to Angela Merkel a concept of economic reforms and that she "agreed with it."

"It's not easy to do, we still have a lot to do because in three or four years the citizens will have to live better and we need to have a system that works," he said.

Another topic of discussion was regional stability, and relations with Priština, Vučić said.

"We will continue the talks with Priština, no matter what government will be formed there. Serbs will affect that, too, and now we can see how important the decision to participate in elections was," he said.

According Vučić, Merkel described Serbia as "an anchor of stability," and noted it was "up to us to remain that and change bad habits." In this context, he mentioned that they also discussed what should be improved in the business environment to make investors feel safer.

When it comes to his meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Vučić said it lasted 45 minutes, and that they discussed "eye to eye all important issues in Europe."

"We understood each other for the most part though Germany does not support everything that we say, but of course it understands our specific traits," Vučić said.

As the prime minister said, the essence of relations with Germany is "not to promise what you cannot fulfill."

"What I promised we fulfilled," said Vučić. He added that "the talks would continue and we will always be willing to hear criticism and objections."

Vučić said that the discussion also concerned relations between Ukraine and Russia, and that he presented Serbia's views, adding that he "could not say that they absolutely agree with our views, but there was understanding for our position."

"I am grateful to them for that," stressed Vučić.

According to him, Serbia's EU membership negotiations were also discussed, and he presented his view that "chapter 32 should also be opened" - and that this was also met with understanding.

The disastrous flooding which occurred in Serbia in May was another subject of the talks, when Vučić expressed his appreciation for the assistance received from Germany, adding that he "expects it will continue."

According to Vuči, Merkel remarked that she remembered "the difficult talks" held in 2011 with the then leadership of Serbia and that she was glad that was not the case now.

"Today's talks were much different from those that Angela Merkel had in 2011 in Belgrade and that is because of the citizens of Serbia, who have taken many difficult steps," said Vučić.