President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić he stated, on the occasion ofthe announcement of the Socialist Party of Serbia that it will participate in the parliamentary elections independently, that everyone has the right to choose their own political path and stated that the decision of the SPS is a clear signal that the SNS will have to win the elections independently, and that it does not expect anyone's help after the elections.
Answering questions from journalists during a tour of the works on the construction of Tiršova 2 and the rehabilitation of GAK, he said that he had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of other political parties and that he saw no reason for any drama because the SPS had made a decision to go to the elections independently.
"I wish them the best of luck. We will fight to beat them, just like everyone else. Everyone has the right to choose their political path. As far as the parliamentary elections are concerned, they always went out independently. It's not a novelty. And I don't see why we would have anything against it. And when we talked before, when we had a closer or joint approach, we always hesitated whether to go together or separately, how to attract more voices. This time, it's not about that, to be quite frank," said Vučić, responding to a journalist's question to comment on SPS president Ivica Dačić's announcement that the party will contest the elections independently.
Vučić said that "SNS is not a so-called student list that forbids people from voting or exerts any kind of pressure" and emphasized that elections are a democratic game and that everyone is welcome.
When asked whether SPS official Branko Ružić welcomed SPS's decision to go to the elections independently and whether this means that Ružić "has completely taken control of the party", Vučić said that he does not agree with Ružić taking over SPS and added that Ružić has as much influence in that party as he did a year and a half ago.
""Only they skillfully played that game of fake commissions, statutory ones, like this, like that, and stories for small children so that they could always be a kind of 'king maker', someone who will one day choose one side or the other," said Vučić.
He pointed out that he leads a different policy and that his policy is based on commitments, principles and content, not on how to be in power.
"I don't want to be in power and have to have blockading principles or cooperate with them. I don't want to lead a "pol-Potov" policy in which any different opinion will be banned. I don't want to have any kind of chair if we can't implement the policy that we think is the best for the country of Serbia.
""We don't close the door to anyone."
Vučić said that the decision of the SPS is a clear signal that the SNS will have to secure a majority on its own if it wants to continue important jobs and projects for Serbia and that it will have to win the elections on its own and win 46 percent of the vote on its own in order to have more than 125 deputies in the National Assembly.
"It is certain, it seems to me, that we could count on cooperation with Istvan Pastor's party (SVM), they are our traditional partners, who always keep their word and to whom we always keep our word. But it is also clear that we have to make an effort and that we have to win more convincingly than we thought. Whether we succeed or not remains to be seen. Anyway, I don't see the reason for any excessive drama. We understood everything, we know what our job is, we know how much effort and energy we have to invest and people will understand," said Vučić.
He stated that the SPS is an exceptional party to be respected and that those who vote for that party are patriotic and state-building oriented, as well as that they will choose their own path to the future.
"Otherwise, I have no problem talking to all of them and what surprised me, I wouldn't talk about it publicly, it wouldn't be fair. We don't close the door to anyone, but do we expect anyone's help after the election, we don't. We don't expect anyone and it will be clear to us that if we don't have the majority ourselves, we have lost the majority. And people in Serbia should also be aware of that, as clearly as possible," said Vučić.
"In politics, nothing lasts less than gratitude"
When asked by a journalist if he felt that Dacic "stabbed him in the back" and if he would be surprised if one of the coalition partners did the same, Vucic replied that in politics, as in life, nothing lasts longer than gratitude.
"How many times have you heard 'hey, do it for me, I'll be grateful for the rest of my life'. This lasted for the next seven days to seven months. After that, not a day, not a second. I don't have that kind of attitude, I'm too experienced, I've been through everything. What I believe in is my work and ours: steadfast, determined, diligent. And those are things I believe in," said Vučić.
He added that everyone has the right to participate in elections as they wish.
"I saw that everyone who is preparing for the elections has a need to say something against SNS. You also saw (Rasim) Ljajić - 'yes, they replaced five of my people', he just didn't say why those people were replaced. But, as you have noticed, we have not spoken and we will not speak. Because we are fair people. The same is the case with SPS. I don't know why that was the most important thing for them, to go public, they could have done it in 20 days and it wouldn't be the most important news, but they wanted to emphasize 'that they are not us', since I guess we are not popular enough, some others are, to get more votes. That's all allowed, that's all right. It's not a knife at all, it's all politics," said Vučić.
He wished luck to all coalition partners in the elections.
"We worked well with all of them, and when we have disagreements, we don't go public with it. That's how honorable people do it. And that's all. Whether we will continue or not, we will discuss that later, when the elections are over. It is possible that they will be with someone else, it is possible that they will express their desire to be with us, but whoever wins the elections will ask about that," concluded Vučić.
"I will write to Rute, I will ask that the bridge on the Ibar not be opened"
Responding to a journalist's question to comment on the non-reaction of the international community to the mistreatment of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, President Vučić said that the West is pushing the so-called independence by force. of Kosovo and that they are not interested in the position of the Serbs in the southern province.
"At this moment, they have to politically justify their crimes from 1999 and 2008, their wrong decisions and forcefully push Kosovo into independence at any cost. And they are not interested in the position of the Serbs, they are not interested in how Nenad Rašković was beaten. The Albanians told them how the Serb had beaten him. Of course they lied," said Vucic.
He added that the representatives of the international community said on the first day that the pictures of the beaten Nenad Rašković were terrible, and then they kept quiet.
He also pointed out that the opening of the main bridge over the Ibar in Kosovska Mitrovica could not be allowed without the consent of the Serbian mayors in the north, especially the Serbian mayor of North Mitrovica.
"Today I can do that too. And that's what Turkin, the KFOR commander, does. I will soon write to Mark Rutte (the Secretary General of NATO) and I do not believe that he will respond to my letter and accept my request not to do so. I will send him a letter today or tomorrow," said Vučić.
He pointed out that it was a big disappointment for him.
"But it also tells us some other things: that nervousness has entered their ranks, that they don't know how to force Serbia to accept an independent Kosovo, and we will see how much we can in every way to help our people. That's what we can do," Vučić emphasized.
As he said, things will change in the world and they are changing, but not fast enough.
"At least not as fast as we would like. In any case, it is a great shame for Europe, for the whole world, to accept the persecution of not only an Orthodox and Christian nation, but also the persecution of a nation from its hearths: daily harassment, bullying, demolition of houses, and everything else," said President Vučić.
"I don't understand why they don't release Ratko Mladic"
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said that he does not understand the behavior of the West, which does not release General Ratko Mladić from the prison of the International Residual Mechanism in The Hague, even though, as he says, he is practically on his deathbed.
"Whether it's a week or five weeks away, it doesn't matter. They could, as they waited for (Nebojša) Pavković to literally arrive two weeks before his death, then let him into the country to come, even to die, to where he lived and what he fought for. I don't understand those principles," said Vucic.
He added that it has to do with the humane attitude towards people.
"It has no principles, it has nothing to do with their judgments, nor with what anyone thinks. This about General Mladic only has to do with a humane attitude towards a person. "I don't understand why they behave like that and why they do it, to be completely honest," said President Vučić.
"The Government's proposal on increasing the minimum wage is good for workers, we must help employers"
The President stated that the proposal of the Government of Serbia on the minimum wage for next year, which includes an increase to 600 euros, is good for workers and stated that the state will have to help employers in this.
"The proposal is good for the workers, I'm not sure about the employers, but we will have to help the employers, and for the most part it will go through taxes and contributions, which the state will accept at its own expense," Vučić said.
He added that Serbian companies cannot be destroyed by increasing the minimum wage.
"You saw that I was in Matis, in Ivanjica, they have 800 employees. If we dramatically increase their minimum wage every year, they cannot survive. And what will we do without such a factory in Ivanjica? What will you do with those who work in three shifts, selling burgers, kebabs, sausages? They cannot pay huge salaries, they cannot sustain, they do not have the business to cover it. People must understand that," said Vučić.
He emphasized that he is always on the workers' side and that he is satisfied and happy for them.
"This means that it will be 68.000 or as much as 69.000 - 70.000 dinars as a minimum. It used to be our dream that our average salary would reach that. But we also have to take care of employers. Ask them if they can pay all the wages, and they are much higher, and they have to do all the work here. It's not easy, it's not simple," said Vučić.
He stated that the increase in the minimum wage is good news primarily for workers, but that it will also be good news for employers if the state accepts most of the burden on itself, because then it will have more motivated workers.
Answering the question to specify what kind of salary and pension increases citizens expect by the end of the year, Vučić said that he will specify exactly on Thursday, August 20.
"The drop in the rating of UB is harmful for Serbia in the long term, we all knew that they did nothing"
Vučić stated that the drop in the rating of the University of Belgrade (UB) is on the Shanghai list "long-term and terribly harmful for Serbia" and added that "everyone knew that nothing was done during the blockades at UB".
The president once again commented on the fall of UB on the Shanghai list and on two other lists, adding that some media in Serbia could have praised the work of the university, but he asked "did people think that someone from the world would praise and reward idleness".
"We all knew they weren't doing anything. Đokić was neither able nor allowed to enter his office for a year. When he was allowed to enter, he rebelled because the police were investigating the murder of a girl, Milica Živković, for whom he did not even ask for a minute of silence, but that's why he campaigned for himself. And then you wonder why our university failed? Well, you are talking about why the university failed, you called Stojan Radenović, the man who brought us everything, that we are standing like that on the Shanghai list, you called him an old man. And he brought us more than all Đokić together. And now the results are visible, only you pretend to be naive not to see it. That way they would destroy our whole country while you said biscuit, the whole country," Vučić pointed out.
Answering a question to comment on Professor Biljana Stojković's post on the X network, in which she told the blockaded students that in the event of a change of government, they "don't forgive anyone anything" and that they should "uproot the weeds", Vučić said that he was ashamed to comment on it and added that he believes that people will unite, even though there are angry politicians.
"Although their research shows otherwise, I believe that our victory will be much more convincing than the one they expect. I think they have already planned both the rabbit and the skewer, without even cutting the pole in the forest, let alone catching the rabbit. The fact that they are already saying what they are going to do to us after the elections... My old mother always said 'son, first jump, then say hop'. I can't say anything, but we will lend a hand. And to always extend a hand to those who, even in our generations, would like to be sanctified and who do not understand what the state is, who do not understand anything," said President Vučić.
Source: RTS
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