Vucic at the Summit: Strong pressure over Russia and Ukraine

As many as 2,629 articles saying that Serbia is endangering the whole of the Western Balkans and jeopardizing the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of “so-called Kosovo” have been published in European media since the beginning of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, said Vucic.

He asked if any apologies were offered for the “fabrications” that the media presented to citizens of European countries, and said that his only obligation was to act in line with Serbia’s interests.

“I am not here to justify our position”, the Serbian President said.

Vucic and Prime Ministers Edi Rama and Dimitar Kovacevski of Albania and North Macedonia attended Thursday the EU – Western Balkans Summit in Brussels, following which they held a joint media conference.

Vucic said Serbia supports French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea of a European political community, adding: “This is the only way for our voice to be heard”.

He said he promised his European colleagues that Serbia will do all it can until December and the next summit. “I won’t say that we will celebrate, but I think that we will be in a better mood in December than we are today”, Vucic said.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he was dissatisfied with EU’s attitude towards the region’s European integration and that the EU was tired of the enlargement process.

He told the media conference that North Macedonia has been waiting 17 years and Albania eight for EU membership talks to start.

From a joint vision and community, the EU has become an instrument for individual members to block things, said Rama and asked EU leaders “not to kill” the Albanians’ faith in their European future.

Rama expressed regret that the EU has still not liberalized the visa regime for Kosovo citizens and repeatedly asked the EU to show understanding for Serbia and to refrain from asking Belgrade to join in on all the sanctions imposed on Russia. The reality in Serbia is “completely different” he said, adding that he “tried to explain” to the European leaders that 80 per cent of Serbian citizens support the Russian President.

Prime Minister Kovacevski told the media conference that, in the context of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, EU’s enlargement to the Western Balkans should be viewed as investing in EU security.

Kovacevski said that North Macedonia has been dissatisfied with the dynamics of the accession process since the launch of negotiations. He said his country has been a candidate for almost 18 years and described the situation with the veto as “a blow to EU’s credibility”. Bulgaria invoked its veto power on negotiations with candidates in 2020 to block North Macedonia's candidacy.