PM: We don't know what EU will look like; NATO no condition

PM: We don't know what EU will look like; NATO no condition

"It is not clear what the European Union will look like, I'm not catering to those spewing nonsense about the EU having failed.... It is true that there are a myriad of problems, it is not known what that will look like, we want Serbia to belong to a better type of society and do it for our own sake," he said, and added:

"Our job is to change ourselves, to see what it is we need to do. Much is in front of us, let us do what's up to us, and see in 2019 and 2020 what will happen with the EU. I will not speculate, but I see already more and more egoism and less unity and solidarity."

He added there are "big common interests" and therefore "the disintegration of the EU will not be so easy."

"Many European powers and the United States would lose a lot with the disintegration of the European Union. This game is not as easy as it looks on TV," said Vucic.

Asked whether NATO membership is being put before Serbia as a condition to join the EU, he said:

"No one ever placed NATO before us as a condition. We have a fair relationship (with NATO) through Partnership for Peace, as well as with Russia, Belarus, Armenia... I don't want hostility with NATO, it is possible to go to the EU without NATO membership. There's Austria... nobody's imposing it to us, they are very honest and they said this was our affair."

"I'd ask the hotheads a question," Vucic continued, and asked:"Do they want us to go to war with NATO? I'm not going to lead Serbia into conflict with NATO, it is better to go to peace operations, to cooperate like with Russia, like with everyone."

When the interviewer said that "Moscow is not smiling because of that," Vucic asked, "what can I do," adding that he "does not want them to be smiling a little in Brussels, in Moscow, in Washington, but that citizens of Serbia are smiling."

"We need to lead Serbia, not to be anyone's colony, I'm not interested in that. I am addressing a plea to the young people, to kids, please leave your passions behind, let's balance things and conduct them on a rational level, passions lead us astray," Vucic concluded.

"Extremism growing"

A return to the past and conflicts would be a disaster for Serbia, says Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, adding that he does not want to be the head of a government that would have to collaborate with protagonists of instability in the region.

Extremism is growing in all Western Balkan countries, and that is no good news, Vucic said on a B92 talk show on Monday.

Extremist views also exist in Europe, and some governments adopt parts of the policies promoted by extremist groups in order to protect themselves from pressure, he said.

"I do not want to make compromises with such ideas. That is a policy that would cost Serbia dearest," Vucic said.

Vucic said that it is his job as prime minister to care about the present and the future and that he is not interested in being prime minister in the future if that means collaborating with protagonists of instability in the region.

"We fought for a long time to make Serbia the anchor of stability in the region, we have boosted the country's international reputation. We cannot let that be destroyed overnight," he said, expressing satisfaction with the fact that the Fiscal Council praised the government on Monday for its economic successes.