Vucic Expects Pressure of New U.S. Administration Regarding Kosovo And RS

Aleksandar Vucic(BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated on Dec. 9 that he hoped the new U.S. administration would have a different stance regarding Serbia and the issue of Kosovo, compared to what was stated in the U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 8.

"It is up to us to conduct our own policy and to understand well that we will be faced with even stronger pressure... I never tried to hide the fact that we will be in a difficult position," he stated.

"What bothers me is that many people here rejoice, believing that this is directed against me. But it is not. It is directed against anyone who would care about Serbia," Vucic told reporters in Palace Serbia.

Commenting on the requests for the new U.S. president, Joseph Biden, to persuade Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence, Vucic added that he expected pressure not only about Kosovo, but also about Republika Srpska (RS).

During the session of the Foreign Policy Committee of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress, where the relations between Serbia and Kosovo and the influence of Russia and China were discussed, among other things, the former U.S. secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, said in the evening of Dec. 8 that Washington should focus on establishing tighter cooperation with the EU and on strengthening the fight against corruption, which, in her words, was "flourishing" in the Balkans and undermining the rule of law.