Vucic: I Didn’t Say Whether or Not I Would Attend BRICS Summit, I Said ‘We’ll See’

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC/DS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sept. 6 that he did not voice a decision on attending the upcoming BRICS summit in Russia – to which he was invited by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin – reiterating that he would decide on the matter in October.

“I’ve seen multiple headlines. I saw some said I declined, some said I accepted. And throughout the day, the former and the latter lied. I said ‘we’ll see,’” the president stated while touring the reconstruction site of a bridge in Mali Zvornik, referencing the media’s interpretation of his Sept. 5 statement on the invite from Putin.

Vucic stressed that “there is no doubt” the invitation Putin extended was “important,” but that during the planned BRICS gathering in the Russian city of Kazan, Serbia “has previously arranged important visits” from abroad.

“I’ll make my final decision between Oct. 10 and 15. Serbia’s policy, both domestic and foreign, is independent, and as such works. We will make independent choices and will renounce neither Russia nor China,” Vucic said.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Aleksandar Vulin issued his own statement on Sept. 6, claiming that the media “deliberately twisted” Vucic’s words on the BRICS summit by reporting that the president would not attend the Oct. 23-24 Kazan gathering.