Vucic: Serbia Is Being Attacked from the Outside, Attack Supported from Within

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Feb. 1 that the state was not a toy, but that many apparently thought that they could play with it, and that it was possible to blackmail the state and the people at any given time.

"That is why they have launched an attack on Serbia from the outside, supported by many inside, who have for years been trying to seize power - sometimes in elections, sometimes outside the election process, but it is not working, because the people do not want them," Vucic told citizens gathered in a conference hall in the Serbian municipality of Brus. The president underlined that "the Serbian state is tolerant and patient and offers dialogue to all" and that today as well he was offering talks.

In another statement, Vucic said that a broad new movement was needed to change things and find new, honest people to replace those who were corrupt and belonged behind bars. "The corrupt should go to jail, and new, honest people should take their positions. That is why we need a new movement," he said.

Vucic also said that there would neither be a provisional cabinet nor a government of experts. There will either be elections or a referendum, he said, but "there will not be a servile government run by thieves from around the world" for as long as he lived. "I told some world leaders that for that they do not need me, and that I have taken their warnings regarding my personal safety as threats. I told them they could kill me, but I will never agree to a transitional or expert government under any circumstances," Vucic stressed.