Vucic Displeased with Socialist Official’s Statement: We Can Go Our Separate Ways

Branko Ruzic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

After former education minister and Socialist Party of Serbia official Branko Ruzic requested that his party “leave the firm embrace” of the ruling Serbian Progressive party, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic stated that the Socialists are entitled to do so and that the two parties can go their separate ways “anytime.”

“I believe that the Socialists include many honorable people who don’t share [Ruzic’s] opinion and that he has belonged to some labor party or other party for a while now, just not a domestic one. It’s been a while since he belonged to his own country or shared the ideology of certain [political] parties,” Vucic told Pink TV.

The president opined that any questions about Ruzic should be directed to the Socialist Party of Serbia, although, he said, the party currently lacks a way of answering Ruzic’s statement or is afraid of its consequences.

“We at the Serbian Progressive Party have introduced the principle of almost never expelling members. You can count the number of those we have [expelled] on one hand. Anyone who wants to leave is welcome to. And usually they come back. That’s how a serious family behaves. Luckily, Ruzic has never been a part of our family in any way,” said the president.

Vucic concluded that he would not have liked Ruzic as a member of their family anyway and wished him “a safe journey wherever he wants to go.”