Vucic: Serbia Does Not Interfere in Montenegro's Internal Affairs

Djukanovic, Vucic (Beta/Serbian Presidency/Dimitrije Goll)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Feb. 7 that he was not "even thinking about" interfering in Montenegro's internal affairs, but added that he expected basic guarantees for the Serbs in the country regarding the right to survival and use of churches.

He told the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation that Serbia had been "rational, benevolent and reasonable" towards Montenegro and that it wished to preserve the presence of the Serbian people in that state. "Our job is to say that our people have lived there for centuries, we want them to keep living in their ancestral homes," said Vucic.

He went on to say that some in Serbia had also accused the Serbian authorities of doing nothing to help the Serbs in Montenegro and siding with those seeking to oppress the Serbian people. In his words, the conversation he had with his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Djukanovic in Jerusalem was not easy, but was open.

In the same statement, Vucic said that Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti's announcement of the annulment of import tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was good, but that people were underestimating the damage that economic measure had caused. He also said that he understood introducing reciprocity toward Serbia because, as he put it, Kurti had to offer his people something.

According to him, the lowering of the election threshold from five to three percent bothers only those who don't want to take part in the upcoming election and are afraid of a higher turnout.

Vucic also announced that he would meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel sometime in the coming month.