Vucic: The Interests of the Great Powers Have Always Intersected and Collided in the Balkans

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/SERBIAN PRESIDENCY/Dimitrije Goll)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Aug. 4 that the interests of the great powers have always intersected and collided in the Balkans, adding that they have a problem with Serbia being independent.

"We are living in not easy times because the interests of the great powers significantly clashed in the Balkans before the Berlin Congress, after it, Austrohungary, Bulgaria everyone saw a piece of the pie in the Balkans and an independent Serbia has always posed a problem, it is not much different today," Vucic told Pink TV in Mrkonjic Grad .

He said Bosnia and Herzegovina did not recognize Kosovo's independence only owing to Republika Srpska "otherwise Sarajevo and Mostar would have jumped at that."

The Serbian president previously told the RTS public broadcasters that Serbia's strategic commitment is preserving peace and stability in the region.

"Peace works for the Serbs. Today, time is working in our favor. We are developing faster than the others, our economy is advancing faster and better. This increases our strength and our comparative advantages," Vucic said.

He commented on a decision by the Montenegrin government to send a representative to mark the anniversary of Croatian Operation Storm in Knin, despite not sending a representative to a commemoration of Serb victims in Mrkonjic Grad.

"The Montenegrin government is partaking in the joy, in the celebration of crimes committed against the Serbs in the victorious Storm, alongside the Croats, and the government of Montenegro did not send anyone to mark the commemorative remembrance of the Serb victims in Mrkonjic Grad. My thanks to the Montenegrin government. This is not the end, this is the start of decisions like this, there will be many more in the future, things are not going to change there," Vucic said.