RTThu, 02 Feb 2023 16:02 UTC
FILE PHOTO: President Aleksandar Vucic said any visiting Western representative starts by demanding that Belgrade slaps sanctions on Moscow .
Serbia will maintain its militarily neutral status and will not seek to join the US-led NATO alliance, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday. He made the remarks during a special parliamentary session debating negotiations regarding Serbia's breakaway region of Kosovo and the Western-designed reconciliation plan.
"This morning, I heard nonsense from fake patriots saying that we are leading Serbia towards the Atlantic integration. We don't. We will continue to maintain our military neutrality and, unlike those who destroyed our military, we are building our army," Vucic said.However, the president
acknowledged that Serbia is "surrounded by NATO member countries," which makes staying non-aligned very difficult. Belgrade will continue to seek EU membership, which is "vital" for the country, Vucic added.
"EU membership is of vital interest for us.
One cannot function without allies," he said. "It is not what we gain, it is about what we will lose."
A proposed agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, which was presented late last year, envisions the expedition of Serbia's EU membership process in exchange for de facto recognition of the region's independence by Belgrade. Serbia would be required to accept the breakaway province's membership of international organizations such as the UN, EU and NATO.
So far, Belgrade has resisted the deal but the West continues to apply pressure. Last week, Vucic said the agreement "hardly contains anything we would be happy about," lamenting the unwillingness of the West to seek compromise. At the same time, he said Belgrade's refusal would result in the EU halting all integration processes, reimposing a visa regime, stopping all new investments, and withdrawing all current ones.
"We have the following choice: either, on the one hand, isolation, sanctions of one sort or another, but there are no worse sanctions than the withdrawal of investments, about which I was directly told three times," Vucic said. Kosovo broke away from Serbia in the late 1990s after NATO waged a bombing campaign against Belgrade in 1999.
Washington and many of its allies recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state after its parliament voted to declare formal independence in 2008, but Belgrade itself and nations including Russia and China did not.
Comment: A brawl erupted in Serbia's parliament following Vucic's special session:
Top War provides more details of what was outlined during the session:
Vucic: Pristina wants to provoke a conflict between Serbia and NATO and present itself as a "Balkan Zelensky"
The President briefed the deputies on the content of the report on the negotiation process with Pristina in the period from September 1, 2022 to January 15, 2023.
Vučić reminded the parliamentarians of the pressure Serbs have experienced in Kosovo and Metohija since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
"From the moment the military conflict in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, a general political offensive began between Pristina and part of the Western allies against Serbia" said the Serbian leader.
Vučić stressed that Pristina intentionally does not want to form a Community of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija, although this was stipulated by the agreement back in 2013. According to him, this is done only in order to provoke a military conflict between Serbia and NATO and the whole world, and then to present oneself as a victim - some kind of "Balkan Zelensky", as the politician put it.
"Their only intention, since they are not going to form a Community of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija, is to provoke a military conflict in order to push Serbia into a confrontation with NATO" Vucic said.
"Their whole game is this, and that is why the arrests of Serbs began." summed up the Serbian president.
During his speech before the parliament, A. Vučić presented the political concept of Serbia's development for the coming period. The plan consists of 10 points, including: maintaining peace at any cost, defending the rights of its citizens in Kosmet, strict observance of national interests, continuing the "European path" of development, military neutrality, and so on.
Almost throughout his speech in parliament, Vučić was attacked by the opposition, whose representatives from time to time taunted the president.
In turn, almost at the end of his speech, the politician decided to answer his counterparts.
"Today I attended, unfortunately, a circus performance instead of a serious meeting, because everyone wanted to be photographed with some stupid poster. They were holding banners with the image of Oliver Ivanovich (approx. Serbian Kosovo politician, killed by unknown people in northern Kosovo in 2018) and with the inscription: "You will answer." I sent my son to Oliver Ivanovich's prison to deliver a message and greet him, and, unlike all of you who speculate on his name, helped him and his family.
Vucic said.
That's what needed in Canada. A frank exchange of opinions.