President says he was "very hurt" by some Kosovo remarks

President says he was "very hurt" by some Kosovo remarks

"If you ask me whether I am optimistic, I am not. But we’re still going to invest large amounts of effort to reach a compromise. I cannot guarantee that the other side will do the same."

Kosovo is the great hurdle that the Serbian president will have to overcome, the Madrid-based daily said in an article published under the headline, “Putin is Serbia’s friend but he respects our path towards the EU”- adding that the region declared unilateral independence from Serbia ten years ago, "and the latter still claims the territory as its own" - while "European nations feel that a bilateral agreement between both is a basic requirement towards EU membership."

According to the article, Vucic is also facing "significant reticence to the idea of EU membership back home" with Orthodox Church, "which considers Kosovo to be the heart of Serbia and the spiritual cradle of its faith" saying that if the price to pay for EU membership is to drop sovereignty claims over Kosovo, then it is not worth it.

"They hurt very much," Vucic said of these remarks. "But the debate is not about with or without Kosovo... it’s about reaching an agreement and a solution."

As for his long-term vision, he said the following: "I think that when you look at the future, what you want is enough jobs for young people. Otherwise there will be no future for us. We need to put our clashes, our fights behind us."

Vucic is also quoted as believing that an armed conflict over Kosovo or any of the ethnic tensions that still exist in the region "would naturally kill Serbia."

“We have had many wars that we did not want in the 20th century. We need to leave them where they are, and bring peace and stability to the entire region, and to Serbia as well," he said.

A good political juggler, he is appreciated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and simultaneously maintains close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, El Pais remarked.

Asked whether Putin had ever offered him "a different path from the EU," Vucic replied:

"Honestly, no. He is a friend of Serbia but he has always respected our choices."

When the interviewer remarked that "European leaders who are skeptical about letting Serbia join the union do not look favorably upon that friendship," Vucic said there was "nothing wrong in that friendship."

“The Russians, like the Spaniards, support our territorial unity. If you come to Serbia and ask people who they prefer, Spaniards or Danes, 90 percent will say Spaniards. It’s got to do with the Kosovo issue,” said the president.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy did not attend the EU-Balkan summit because of the presence of Kosovo leaders - and this decision has been well received in Serbia, where Rajoy “is very popular, even though he might not care,” Vucic joked.

Vucic's political power goes beyond the institutions, El Pais writes, "as he has often been the case in the history of his country."

"Last year he ran in presidential elections while serving as prime minister, and left the post to Ana Brnabic, a young technocrat who is openly lesbian. It was a move aimed at projecting a modern image of the country," the newspaper said, adding that Vucic "occasionally" faces criticism for his "self-oriented excesses and his obsession for controlling the discourse in the press, where there is not a lot of plurality in the traditional media."

But this is a charge Vucic rejects.

“I encourage it (plurality). Whatever it is that they say about me is sometimes the worst that they can say about anyone, even when they say that Vučić is gay (...) But of course we need to create a democratic space where they can work."

As for Serbia's EU bid, the president said Serbian society is "kind of exhausted":

"We began the membership process in 2000 and we’ve been at it for 18 years. Let’s hope we’re ready to bring it to an end in 2025. Although this is not a certainty; it depends on EU countries, and at the same time we’ve got Kosovo as an obstacle."