Vučić from Tashkent: "Uzbekistan has always supported Serbia despite pressure; We must cherish such friends"

"A hard but productive day. This is a country making exceptional progress. Every year, there are a million babies born. The President welcomed us in a wonderful way. There is no place without our billboards. We are obliged to take care of such friends and show a greater degree of friendship," said Vučić.

"People in Serbia should not forget that Uzbekistan did not support Kosovo’s independence and has always been with Serbia, despite pressure. It remained restrained even during the resolution on Srebrenica. We must cherish such friends. We had a long conversation; I don’t remember ever having a two-hour one-on-one discussion with anyone. We talked about the global situation; they are at a crossroads, maintaining good relations with both the EU and China, closer to China than we are. We understand each other very well. In seven to eight months, we will open new flight routes to Baku, Azerbaijan, and later we will open more, depending on what the analysis shows."

He emphasized that important agreements were signed today and expressed hope for a future free trade agreement.

"With pride, we pointed out our achievements to them, but in order to keep pace with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and others, we will need to invest more money in the future, and we will have to do it. When the first industrial revolution was underway, we were two centuries behind, and later we tried to catch up. I see enormous possibilities for cooperation between our countries. Tomorrow we have a busy day, and the day after tomorrow in the morning is the opening of the 43rd UNESCO General Conference."

Due to the situation in the country, Vučić emphasized that he would like to return to Serbia earlier.

"President Mirziyoyev is an exceptionally hardworking man. He has been in power for 24 years. I have not met anyone so diligent. He has big dreams in various fields. When he came to power, unemployment was 42 percent; today it is 5.5 percent. His diligence and dedication are incredible—how much they build, how much they work."

He commented on the statement by the Grand Mufti of the Islamic Community of Montenegro, Rifat Fejzić, that through Podgorica, vengeance is being taken on Turkey, which imposed measures against the country after an incident in which a Turkish citizen stabbed a young man in Montenegro.

"I accept responsibility for everything that happened. When you cannot find the culprit, you look for someone else. I see that I am blamed everywhere—in Washington, in Brussels, even in Banja Luka. When you look at all of this, I don’t know what else I could add. I hope that what really happened will be determined—that is the most important thing."

"I congratulate Lazović for taking over the blockades, Manojlović, and others. People should have known from the beginning that this was a matter of partisan actions. Whatever they do, the state has always remained calm, tolerant, and patient. They are not doing it out of genuine respect; there are good people who want to show it. We will organize proper respect and mourning. That is extremely important," he said.

Regarding insults directed at him at a basketball game, he noted that he was not aware of them and would skip the question, as there is nothing new to hear.

"Imagine if every day, in our newspapers, you had such articles about Croatia as they have about Serbia. That is a disease, it cannot be cured; I don’t know any 'white coats' who could help them, but I am happy when I read it. There is no one else bothering them—no other Serbian leader, no one in the world. The only person who dared to say that Croatia would not manage NIS is me. No one else dared to say it; they were waiting for the one person who dared. I understand all their complexes, and I rejoice in them. The more articles they write against me, the greater my joy and pride. I ask them to continue. I am proud of that," Vučić concluded.