Vucic: Ohrid meeting won’t be decisive

The meeting in Ohrid on Saturday will not be “any fateful day”, he told a news conference.

Vucic said that Belgrade and Pristina submitted their comments on the European Union proposal to normalize their relations but had not received anything from Brussels. “We hand in our proposal, the Albanians handed in theirs, we have not received anything from Brussels yet… no draft of what the EU wants,” he said and added that he will publish any details of the plan he gets. “I never hid a single word,” he said.

Vucic said that has been considering the requirements to normalize Belgrade-Pristina relations, adding that this is not a euphemism for “recognition of Kosovo de facto or de jure”. “For me, normalization means having better relations with the Albanians than we have today, resolving the many problems we have and trying to live together as much as possible and if not beside each other,” he said.

He called the public to trust the state leadership and added that he will do everything he can to maintain peace and go towards normalization while saving vital state and national interests.

“We have to bring our little country, our small boat, to a peaceful port all the while preserving that boat, our national interests …. There will be a lot of things, if the Albanians agree to form the Community of Serb Majority Municipalities (CSM) and I think they won’t, that are not simple for us. I won’t hide any of those things from the people but the result will be good for our country in the end,” Vucic said.

He said that he would not allow anyone else to sign anything. “I will sign and I’m not planning to sign anything. I’m not shouting Charge and I hope I will never have to say Follow Me,” he said.