Vucic Meets with Von der Leyen in Athens, Will Talk with Zelensky on Aug. 22

BETAPHOTO/European Commission/Christophe Licoppe

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in Athens on Aug. 21 that he would have a tete-a-tete with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 22, and that they would discuss everything that had been going on regarding Kosovo lately.

After a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Vucic told Serbian reporters that he would also "try to talk with" Zelensky about the statement by the chairperson of the Ukrainian parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, that Kyiv should recognize Kosovo, saying that it would be a serious blow to Serbia.

"We respect Ukraine's territorial integrity, we hope that Ukraine will respect Serbia's territorial integrity, too. Did Russia violate international law by attacking Ukraine? Obviously. But where imposing sanctions and accusations of who committed war crimes ad hominem are concerned, I want no part of that, until I see that the country is in a terribly difficult situation," he added.

Vucic further said that he had talked with the European Commission president about the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the attitude toward Russia, construction of the Belgrade-Nis high-speed railway, and strategic cooperation between Serbia and the EU in the area of energy and green energy.

He also criticized the selection of participants in an informal dinner on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of adoption of the Thessaloniki Declaration, saying it was "some strange kind of format" and, "I do not understand how it was made."

"Five countries from the Western Balkans have been invited, but how, some have not been invited for strange reasons. And Pristina has been invited, even though Athens does not recognize Kosovo, and (Kosovo Premier) Albin Kurti will even hold a bilateral meeting with the Greek prime minister (Kyriakos Mitsotakis). Croats, Romanians, Bulgarians have been invited but, interestingly enough, Hungarians have not been invited," said Vucic.