Serbia gets a new Government, led by Miloš Vučević

(Patria) - With 152 votes "for", 61 against, and no abstentions, the MPs of the National Assembly of Serbia elected the new Government of Serbia by public vote. Previously, it was decided by a majority of votes that the Government's program would be voted on publicly.

The parliamentary debate on the new Government lasted more than six hours today. After the vote, the oath-taking ceremony will follow, marking the beginning of its mandate.

The mandate holder for the composition of the Government of Serbia and the leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Miloš Vučević, stated yesterday during the presentation of his exposé in the National Assembly of Serbia that EU membership remains a strategic goal.

"Full membership in the EU remains Serbia's strategic goal," said Vučević, adding that "the fact that the process is burdened by newly introduced political criteria cannot be ignored".

He stated that the EU's expectations are tied to Serbia "humiliating itself" by recognizing Kosovo's independence and joining sanctions against Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Vučević added that Serbia will do everything to prevent Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe, although, as he said, its chances are slim.

The Government of Serbia was formed four and a half months after the early parliamentary elections, in which the Progressives won an absolute majority in the republican assembly. The deadline for electing a new Government is May 6.

The President of the Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), Dragan Đilas, assessed that the proposed cabinet of mandate holder Miloš Vučević is "irrelevant", as were the previous Governments led by Ana Brnabić, because "all decisions in Serbia are made by Aleksandar Vučić".

"All governments since 2012 have been Vučić's, and all are irrelevant because only he makes the decisions," Đilas asserted at the Assembly session.

He pointed out that he did not listen to the mandate holder's exposé because, as he said, what was written there "has nothing to do with real life".

"Aleksandar Vučić and the SNS have achieved the impossible, to fulfill none of the promises they made before 2012, from Kosovo, through the investigation of 24 disputed privatizations, to the fight against crime and corruption."

According to official data from international organizations, Serbia is today first in Europe after Russia and Belarus in terms of corruption, the champion of Europe in inflation, and the debt has increased from 15 to 35 billion," Đilas presented the data.

The President of the People's Movement of Serbia (NPS), Miroslav Aleksić, warned that the fight against crime and corruption is the "last point" in the exposé of mandate holder Miloš Vučević.

"In Ana Brnabić's exposé in her first term, the fight against crime and corruption was the second point, in her second exposé it was already the third point, and in your exposé, Mr. Vučević, the fight against crime and corruption is the last one."

"It is clear to me how far your Government will go, further into crime. The fight against crime and corruption is your last priority," Aleksić emphasized, adding that the proposed cabinet reminds him of "the era of Slobodan Milošević, SPS, radicals, and JUL".

Appointed members of the new Government of Serbia are:

Miloš Vučević - Prime Minister;

Siniša Mali - First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance;

Ivica Dačić - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs;

Irena Vujović - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environmental Protection and Water Management;

Aleksandar Vulin - Deputy Prime Minister;

Goran Vesić - Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure;

Dubravka Đedović Handanović - Minister of Mining and Energy;

Tomislav Momirović - Minister of Internal and Foreign Trade;

Maja Popović - Minister of Justice;

Jelena Žarić Kovačević - Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government;

Tomislav Žigmanov - Minister of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue;

Bratislav Gašić - Minister of Defence;

Marko Đurić - Minister of Foreign Affairs;

Tanja Miščević - Minister of European Integration;

Slavica Đukić Dejanović - Minister of Education,

Adrijana Mesarović - Minister of Economy;

Aleksandar Martinović - Minister of Agriculture;

Zlatibor Lončar - Minister of Health;

Nemanja Starović - Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs;

Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski - Minister of Family and Demography;

Zoran Gajić - Minister of Sports;

Nikola Selaković - Minister of Culture;

Milan Krkobabić - Minister for Village Care;

Jelena Begović - Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation;

Husein Memić - Minister of Tourism and Youth;

Dejan Ristić - Minister of Information and Telecommunications;

Darko Glišić - Minister of Public Investments;

Novica Tončev, Đorđe Milićević, Usame Zukorlić, Nenad Popović, and Tatjana Macura - Ministers without portfolio.