Vucic: I met with 38 European and world leaders, I don't think anyone had as many meetings in Prague yesterday

Printscreen: Tanjug

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic was in Nova Pazova today where, together with representatives of the German company MTU, he opened the MTU Maintenance Serbia aircraft engine repair plant, and where he also answered journalists' questions about the current political and economic situation.

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About Prague meetings

Vucic commented on a photo taken in Prague, where he seen alone, while some other world leaders are talking among themselves:

"Yesterday in Prague, I met with 38 European and world leaders, I don't think anyone had so many meetings yesterday. I had bilateral meetings with Macron and Scholz and with Ursula von der Leyen, I went to special rooms for a meeting with the president of the Czech Republic. As far as I recall, I didn't talk to (Croatian PM) Plenkovic even though he tried something, I didn't see the Danish representative, the British prime minister, and I didn't speak with the Armenian prime minister.

When you leave your country at 7 in the morning and come back at midnight, you don't even eat lunch, you work all the time, and then they say you are sad like an orphan, that no one wants you, yet you got the honor to speak at a dinner among 10 people..."

He also commented on a statement made by a Croatian deputy about "the orgy in Jasenovac" (site of Croatia's WW2 death camp for Serbs, Jews, and Romani). The statement refers to Croatia's refusal to allow the president of Serbia to visit Jasenovac.

"As for 'the orgy in Jasenovac' - for them (Croats) it's an orgy when someone wants to lay a wreath dedicated to the thousands killed. I announced my trip three times. Through all regular channels.

I didn't know yesterday, I only found out around midnight that Croatia exempted itself (from the ban on Russian oil imports) in order to procure some kind of special oil that they need from Russia. They gave themselves the right to help the Russians, but they also give themselves the additional right to take it away from Serbia. You can do whatever, you belong to that club, we don't.

The European Commission made the decision that we should be exempted, and then at the proposal of Croatia, they realized that, as they say, they do not have consensus on that issue, so they removed it. Tomorrow you will hear important long-term decisions regarding oil and electricity."

About sanctions against Russia

"Many are asking us to introduce sanctions, I accept that as a politically legitimate demand. I think it's important that we are a part of the European political community, whether or not we introduce sanctions against Russia. The EC came out with a proposal that we should be exempted, so Croatia responded with a proposal that we should not be - but that Croatia should be. I still don't think we will be exempt from that."

Vucic will address the nation from the Palace of Serbia on Saturday morning.

(Telegraf.rs)