Exclusive! Telegraf in Presidency: Citizens asked Vucic difficult questions via Facebook

A Telegraf.rs crew was in the Presidency today, where Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic answered citizens' questions received via the official Facebook page.

Those questions sent by citizens that he didn't get to answer today he will respond to in the coming days, the president said.

When can Serbia become a member of the European Union?

The president said that before joining the EU, there are many tings we can do, and opening borders to our neighbors is one of the first things.

It's crucial first of all to open the borders, first to the Western Balkans and then to the European Union. And when we achieve this one day, then with our work and economy we will be winning, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.

Vucic said this replying to a question from citizens about when, according to him, we can expect Serbia to become an EU member.

"I must give a slightly broader reply. I think it's an important path for us, but that before membership itself we can achieve a lot of things. However, we must now see what the new EU methodology brings, especially for Serbia and Montenegro," he added.

Vucic stressed the importance of opening borders, first in the Balkans and then towards the EU.

"If one day there are no borders towards Hungary and Croatia, as well as toward North Macedonian and BiH, then we'll have no more problems and we will be winning with our work and economy," he stressed.

He said that he hopes we will one day become an EU member, but that not everything depends on us.

"We'll see how talks around Kosovo go. You know, if I were to tell you that, then I would tell you that the day after we will recognize Kosovo's independence," Vucic emphasized.

Do doctors from Serbia have to move out of the country or will there be jobs for them here?

Asked if anything would change in the healthcare system so that our doctors don't have to leave the country, the president said that there are many problems, but that much is being done to improve the situation.

"We were struggling here and there were many problems, many problems still exist today and we invested about 2.2 billion in healthcare, which is one fifth of our consolidated budget. This does not include the construction of the Nis Clinical Center and the reconstruction of the Clinical Center in Belgrade, that's funded from other sources. Can you believe that we didn't have material bookkeeping and that every year we paid 2 or 3 million to the hospital in Bor, while they had no idea what they had in stock," he explained.

"I am telling you this to understand how seriously and thoroughly we are dealing with healthcare in our country. And I am convinced that this problem will be solved as well. Our healthcare is making major strides and I think people will be able to see huge progress," he replied.

Question from a woman who was fired after being diagnosed with cancer

The question was asked by a woman who explained that she was fired from her job after being diagnosed with cancer, adding that the employer was assuring her that her illness had nothing to do with the decision to terminate the contract.

"We've talked about this many times. We'll see how we can help this woman. There were special companies here who did nothing but tell pregnant women 'come work for us', then take state subsidies and never do anything. But we will have to take care of conscientious mothers and parents somehow. Obviously, this was about probationary periods, and in that case, inspection can't help either. We will have to help pregnant women and protect them so that they aren't fired. We need to see how we can do this, suppress the looting of state money and at the same time ensure that pregnant women can be guaranteed employment while raising a child. We know that there are dozens of such cases in Serbia and we will have to find a legal solution to how to get it done," he said.

Help preserve our sacred places in Montenegro

One of the first questions was about the seizure of Serb Orthodox shrines in Montenegro, which was sent to him via a Facebook account signed "Srpsko Berane" ("Serb Berane" - Berane, a town on Montenegro), to which the president answered and sent a message to all Serbs.

He said that Serbia is closely monitoring the situation in Montenegro, with concern, but also with hope that it will stabilize and that everything will end peacefully, and that the shrines will continue to belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), as they always have.

"Serbs are exposed to a perfidious, corrupt and brutal campaign that has been going on for two or three decades and whatever happens in the former Yugoslavia everything is blamed on the Serbs. It's easiest for everyone to blame Serbia for everything," said Vucic.

He added that when asked representatives of the international community, as well as diplomats, why Serbs in Montenegro don't have a status similar to Albanians in North Macedonia - although Serbs in Montenegro are significantly more numerous than Albanians in North Macedonia - there was no answer. The essence of that perfidious policy, he says, is that whenever some countries have an internal problem, it is always Serbia's fault, and it will always be Serbia destroying somebody, even though Serbia has not destroyed anyone anywhere, while Serbia has been destroyed by all kinds.

He says that when regular military service is announced in Kosovo and Metohija, no one is reacting, whereas when our ministers tried to announce the same, there was an uproar abroad, but now no one is reacting, nor when Kosovo announces greater funding for the military and genocide lawsuits.

"It's always silent, and if we said something we would always be guilty of everything. That is why our policy has to be smart, responsible and wise," said Vucic, adding that no one should think they can silently and in any way abolish Serb shrines.

Vucic said that our policy should be well thought out and not arrogant, to say that we respect Montenegro and others in the region but that we will protect our interests legally, through political and diplomatic action, and not endanger anyone.

The president concluded that some in Montenegro are asking this question as if there were no Vasojevics living in Berane or Andrijevica, where they have lived for centuries, and that the situation is presented as if Serbia brought Kuce residents there a few days ago.

Vucic added that these are people who only want to preserve the shrines and that he hopes that everything will end peacefully and stabilize, and that the shrines will continue to be of the SPC.

(Telegraf.rs)