Russian "diplomatic commando" likely to arrive in Belgrade

Russian "diplomatic commando" likely to arrive in Belgrade

"I don't have a scheduled meeting with Donald Trump, and I'm not going to elbow my way. The US policy towards us has not changed much, we are not the most interesting region for them, and it seems to me that we are becoming somewhat more important. I would not comment on whether this is good or bad," Vucic said.

Asked to comment on media reports that former US State Department official Bryan Hoyt Yee would become the new US ambassador to Sarajevo, he said that there was no confirmation of this information - "and I am somewhat better informed than the media."

However, when it comes to media reports about the possible appointment of Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko as Russia's new ambassador to Serbia, Vucic said that this was "likely."

"He is a distinguished, sharp, powerful diplomat, I would say, one of Russia's diplomatic commandos," Vucic said.

When asked "what kind of message this appointment would send," the president replied that it was "quite obvious." Asked whether he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in Nis, he replied that he "cannot make public what was discussed in private."

Vucic also spoke about the local elections in Belgrade, saying they would be announced on Monday or Tuesday, and scheduled for March 4 or 11.

Vucic, who is the leader of the ruling SNS - whose list for this election will be called "Aleksandar Vucic - Because we love Belgrade" - said the first on the ticket will be the director of a children hospital, surgeon Zoran Radojicic.

Vucic pointed out that Radojicic is a non-partisan figure and that among the top 25 people on the list, "only three or four" are members of the SNS.

He also addressed recent criticism leveled at him by Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Amfilohije, to say that it, rather than the appeal for the defense of Kosovo that the dignitary signed, affected him.

Vucic told RTS that this was the case because he "thinks he has done a lot for the Church, for the southern Serbian province (Kosovo)," while "the number of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija has not been reduced in the last four years, and there have been no ethnically motivated murders."

He also said that the Serbian Patriarch Irinej, who praised him in the wake of Irinej's statement, had "the best" reaction to it. Vucic said he was "grateful and almost moved to tears" by the patriarch's words.

Speaking about the internal dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija, he said he wanted to the problem of Kosovo solved, but was aware of "how small his chances are."

Asked if a solution was possible "within the framework of the Constitution," the Serbian president said that he "feared a solution was not possible."

"The question arises as to whether we have the strength to speak the truth before ourselves and to protect what we have, but not to say that everything in the world belongs to us. I fear whether will we have enough strength," Vucic said.