Vucic: Policy of Creating Greater Albania is a Process Kurti Will Continue

Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade, July 6 2023 (BETAPHOTO/Amir Hamzagic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Aug. 18 that the policy of "creating a Greater Albania" was a process that would continue and that Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti would not stop it.

"Albin Kurti will not stop there. Whoever thinks that there is a way to stop Mr. Kurti - there is none in that matter. There is [the option] that he will fail to achieve it, because someone will stand up to him at some point," Vucic told Serbian public broadcaster RTS.

Commenting on the absence of a reaction from the West to talk of "Greater Albania," Vucic said they were silent because they were not interested in that story.

Vucic announced that at a gathering in Budapest this coming weekend he would talk with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stressing that "it is important for Serbia to have the best possible relations with Turkey."

He underscored that the two countries had "decent relations," but that it was true that Turkey's sending weapons to Pristina "is something that has been spoiling our relations," which he had discussed with Erdogan over the telephone in "an honest, open way."

Vucic also said that as of next week he expected "probably the strongest pressure so far" regarding the imposing of sanctions against Russia, but that he did not expect Serbia to be isolated if it did not introduce sanctions.

In his words, pressure on him is mounting in Serbia, too, with the aim of forcing the state to change its policy.

"I do not rule that out, but it does not seem very likely to me either, as I have been saying for a year and a half now. I expect we will encounter numerous problems there," said Vucic.