Vučić spoke at the "GLOBSEC" forum in Prague: Serbia will not recognize the so-called Kosovo PHOTO/VIDEO

At that forum, President Aleksandar Vučić stated that Serbia's entry into the EU is primarily a political issue, not a matter of merit, and that our admission prevents the Kosovo and Metohija issue, because we adhere to the UN Charter and Resolution 1244, according to which Kosovo is part of Serbia and Belgrade is not ready to recognize its independence.

As the first speaker at the panel discussion "Seizing the Moment: Forging Lasting Partnerships in the Neighborhood", he was asked what is holding Serbia back on that path, at this moment.

"There is still a lot of work to be done. People in Europe are constantly talking about an approach based on merit, such formulations. That was never the case, if you remember the situation with Romania, with Bulgaria. It was always a political decision, not something based on merit. Today we still have work to do regarding the rule of law issues. We have a regional problem with Pristina, that issue is very difficult, it is difficult to solve," said Vučić.

He pointed out that at the same time we had the highest growth rate so far, much higher than Europe itself, at least in the last ten years.

"So we should be attractive to the European Union. Yes, it's not just about the issue of economic development. It's also about belonging to the single market, the European Union needs you to no longer have borders with other countries, which is of huge importance not only for the economy, but also for the lives of ordinary people. There are other things, reasons why we would like to join the European Union. Some people would say values, but when we start to define those values, some differences always appear," said Vučić.

He stated that the real issue for us is somewhat different than in the case of other countries.

"It is about Kosovo, as you know, we adhere to the Charter of the United Nations and Resolution 1244, which says that Kosovo is part of Serbia and 22 out of 27 members of the European Union have already recognized Kosovo's independence, and five of those 27 countries have not done so, and that is the problem. Belgrade is not ready to recognize Kosovo's independence," Vučić said.

He reminded that not even Bratislava is ready to recognize the independence of Kosovo, nor Bucharest, Athens, Madrid and Nicosia.

"When I'm already talking about it and when I mentioned it here last year in Prague, if we're talking about the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and we support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, when we're talking about it and we're talking about violating the principles of the United Nations, about the principles of international public law, then it's difficult to explain to anyone in Serbia, not me, not the politicians in power, but anyone in Serbia, what about the territorial integrity of Serbia. And resolution 1244 is still valid and nobody cares, because there were others political interests that were much more important to some Western allies than the United Nations Charter and international public law," said Vučić.

When asked if this is partly the reason why in some recent research in Serbia they are questioning whether they want to enter the European Union or if it is about his closeness with Russia in the war with Ukraine or if he knows how to talk to Russia, Vučić said that Russia is traditionally a friend of our Serbia.

"This is nothing that is not well known. I believe that we have always had a principled position on the Ukrainian issue and that is why I emphasized that we support the UN Charter and the integrity of Ukraine. It is not about that. We had the same closeness 20 years ago, but at that time 80 percent of the population was for the EU, and today 40 percent, that is twice less. It is not only about Serbia, you have the same problem in North Macedonia and a big division between Macedonians and Albanians. Albanians support 80 percent of the entry in the EU within North Macedonia, and the Macedonians as a people are like the Serbs or are still skeptical, which shows that it has nothing to do with Russia. It has to do with our needs, with our expectations," said Vučić.

By law, Serbia may not export weapons to Russia or Ukraine

Answering a question about arming Ukraine, Vučić said that Serbia has good cooperation with Ukraine, that the country has always been Serbia's friend, and that Ukraine has not recognized the so-called independence of Kosovo.

"We have very good cooperation with Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky two days ago in Odessa, and we have talked nine times so far. Ukraine has always been a friendly country to Serbia. Otherwise, they respect international public law and have not recognized the independence of Kosovo and have not even invited Pristina to Odessa. We appreciate that and have nothing against Ukraine," said Vučić.

In response to the question of whether there is a possibility for Serbia to help arm Ukraine, the President said that Serbia has no right by law to send weapons to any other country.

"We have no right according to our laws to sell or send any weapons either to Ukraine or to Russia. Some say that they got our weapons through third countries, but there is no doubt that when you sell weapons to a country in the world, there is a possibility that Russia or Ukraine might get some of it," explained Vučić.

He said that Serbia has many topics to discuss with Ukraine, as well as that Serbia has offered that country help for the reconstruction of two cities or one region.

"Also, we provided great financial aid to Ukraine last year, we gave tens of millions to Ukraine as a gift from Serbia and the Serbian government," said Vučić.

When asked whether Moscow pressured Serbia to stop providing aid to Ukraine, Vučić said that there was no great pressure because Serbia acts as an independent and sovereign country.

"I can't say that they are putting a lot of pressure because we are acting as an independent and sovereign state," he said.

Vučić said that the European path cannot be reduced to whether someone is for or against Russia.

"That European path cannot be now whether you are for Russia or against it, and it should not be about that, because we will never be anti-Russian and we will never be against them. Pro-Russian means that we have good cooperation with them and we are not the 'little Russians' as many in America imagine us to be. We are Serbs," said the President of Serbia.

He pointed out that a much more important question than whether Serbia is in favor of Putin or Russia is what the EU's strategic approach is, that is, what the EU wants.

"Do you know what they invented recently? They always find one country that will protest and oppose something in North Macedonia. It is always Bulgaria. For Serbia, they always have Croatia or some other countries that will have some objection regarding Serbia. They will always say that there are problems with minorities, with textbooks or something like that to slow us down," said Vučić.

He added that such an approach does not establish trust between Serbia and the EU.

"I believe that we should all show more respect and maybe it's my fault that the EU is not so popular in Serbia and maybe I should change my behavior and attitudes and perhaps make some nicer propaganda in support of the EU," he noted.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the former Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Aleksandar Schallenberg and Miroslav Lajčak, the former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and the former special envoy of the European Union for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina participated in the panel.