Vucic Promises Talks between Government, Opposition, Criticizes EU Over Vaccines

AleksandarbVucic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Feb. 27 that the authorities would sit at the negotiating table with both groups of opposition parties - those that wanted the presence of EU officials during the talks, and those who didn't.

Commenting on a request by some opposition parties that presidential polls be separated from local elections, President Vucic said in an interview with Prva TV that it was important that elections be held the following year, and that the initiative only served the purpose of "harassing Serbian citizens twice or three times."

In the same interview Vucic was critical of the Union, following a report that entry into EU member states should be conditioned on the use of Western vaccines in the immunization process. The president said that Serbia would continue the process at a quicker pace than the rest of Europe and that it would request Europeans to show their Covid-19 passports on the border with Serbia.

"We will keep up the faster pace of immunization, and then introduce Covid-19 passports as an entry requirement for EU citizens...Rich states would rather vaccinate their dogs, cats and parrots three times than share vaccines with the poor," the president said.