Vucic: Decision on free movement of Kosovo plates prevented ‘big pitfalls and dangers’

Vucic told Prva Television that he thinks the decision of the Government of Serbia, which will come into force on January 1, will benefit the Serbian people and Serbia as a whole.

"Our interest is the Open Balkans and freedom of movement, which also applies to vehicles. I think that this decision will benefit the Serbian people and Serbia as a whole. With that and some other things, we avoided big pitfalls and dangers for Serbia," the President said.

He estimated that during January and February, Serbia will face "great pressures" regarding Kosovo, but also that it will be exposed to new pressures due to relations with Russia.

"They have to solve the Kosovo problem before entering into any talks about Ukraine. The end of January and February will be the peak of their campaign for the European Parliament elections and in March Russia will hold elections where Putin's mandate will be renewed but also more intense pressure from the world on all those who have any relationship with Russia

will be renewed]," said Vucic.

He added that he expects the election process to be completed in the next 10 to 12 days, since voting will be repeated on January 2 at eight more polling stations.

Speaking about the protest of the opposition gathered around the "Serbia against violence" list and the hunger strike of Marinika Tepic, the President said that last Saturday he called on her to end the strike and that she took his advice.

It was pointless, he said, adding that it was all about "playing heroes for a bit, then pretending to be hurt for a bit."