Vucic Visits Greece, Says Lng Important for Entire Balkans

Aleksandar Vucic , Alexandroupoli, Greece (BETAPHOTO/SERBIAN PREZIDENCY/DIMITRIJE GOLL)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on May 3 at a ceremony for beginning the construction of a terminal for liquefied natural gas in Alexandroupoli, Greece, that the project was important "for the entire region, the entire Balkans," adding that he, like many others, had been a sceptic and believed that it would take years to accomplish this.

"Now when I see what has been done here, we are very grateful and ready to assume large quantities of gas in the future. We need to improve gas infrastructure in our country and build systems for connecting to our Bulgarian friends, then we will be able to take over large quantities of gas," Vucic said in a speech at the ceremony, which was also attended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Council President Charles Michel.

Vucic underscored that the project was important for the countries that were involved and that they needed to continue "taking care of each other," and that they had a deep debt to the EU which had financed a large part of the project.

He told reporters from Serbia that he respected the stances of opposition parties on introducing sanctions against Russia, but that it was not fair that they did not voice their beliefs before elections. He did not, however, say what Serbia's stance would be on the question.