Vucic’s Follower Who Says What the Interlocutor Wants to Hear

Nemanja Starovic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

Serbian Minister of European Integration Nemanja Starovic stirred up a storm in the Serbian public sphere last week by telling Austrian news agency APA that Serbia was ready “for very difficult compromises” regarding Kosovo, and for the imposing of sanctions against Russia once Serbia was close to joining the European Union. Although a part of the opposition-oriented public believes Starovic had arranged that presentation with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, as a “trial balloon,” it may actually be a slightly careless statement from the minister who, as a rule, says what the interlocutor wants to hear, not unlike his boss.