Vucic: It’s Not for Progressive Party Leadership to Speculate if I’m Running for Prime Minister, It’s a Personal Decision

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic urged the Serbian Progressive Party’s officials on Feb. 9 not to “speculate” whether he would be a candidate for prime minister in the next  parliamentary elections, saying that it had to be his own decision.

Vucic said that he didn’t want to rule out a potential candidacy right away, but was also unwilling to take on a job “without energy and enthusiasm.”

“Now is neither the time nor the place for that. I would ask Milos Vucevic, Ana Brnabic and Sinisa Mali not to speak about it, not to speculate. It has to be my own decision first, and then the people’s, because the people want change, but change that guarantees security and stability, not chaos,” Vucic said.

“We have achieved certain results that we now take for granted, that people no longer appreciate because they are now used to them. We must begin to change ourselves, to change the system, our education, to understand the modern era, what artificial intelligence is,” Vucic said during a ceremony in the Presidency building, where he was presented with the Order of the New Martyrs of Bihac-Petrovac for “demonstrated benevolence and great love” toward that diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Republika Srpska.

Vucic also said he had congratulated the candidate of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, Sinisa Karan, on his victory in the presidential election in Republika Srpska. “I congratulated Karan on his victory last night, we also spoke by phone. I expect his first visit to be to Belgrade and Serbia. We always have the best relations, while respecting the Dayton Agreement, and I hope we will continue to carefully build those relations and respect the interests of both Serbia and Republika Srpska,” Vucic told reporters.