Vučić and Varhelyi in Belgrade: We Need Serbia in Tirana

(Patria) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, addressing the media after a meeting with European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi and the signing of three agreements with the EU, stated that he is particularly grateful for the agreement on financial support to Serbia of 165 million euros by the end of the year. Speaking about the situation in Kosovo, Vučić said that in Pristina they are doing nothing other than hyper-producing attacks on everything Serbian. He also asked what is next, but emphasised that the situation is heated and that people will no longer tolerate Kurti's terror.

Oliver Varhelyi stated that the enlargement process is one of the three priorities of the EU.

"We also need Serbia at the table in Tirana," Varhelyi stressed.

Varhelyi said that without the engagement of both sides, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue cannot be successful and that this is the basic rule the European Union adheres to.

After the talks with President Vučić, responding to a journalist's question about the statement by Peter Stano, who calls on both sides to respect the agreements, referring to Albin Kurti's move, Varhelyi said that Peter Stano's statement should not be understood as a negative remark towards Serbia.

"To simplify, it is the basic rule of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina - that without engagement from both sides, it cannot be successful and cannot be sustained. We always want to emphasise this because we saw what happened when we had numerous unilateral actions during this year, and that is why this sentence is always necessary - we want to see engagement from both sides. There is no criticism in that, it is a simple statement of the rule," Varhelyi explained.

The EU has created an energy aid package that will mobilise at least 2.5 billion euros for the region.

As he noted, the second part of the programme for addressing the energy crisis will be dedicated to investments that should change the energy picture of the Western Balkans. Varhelyi says he agreed with President Vučić that a new plan is needed for this because current routes and suppliers must be changed.

"We must promote energy transition and security, both short-term and long-term, but it is also necessary to introduce new routes, new sources of energy, and therefore we must push our Bulgarian friends to accelerate the construction of the gas interconnector with Serbia, through which we hope to see Azerbaijani gas being delivered to Serbia as early as next year," the commissioner stated.

"That is why we are also pushing for a new LNG terminal on the Adriatic, pushing projects that would bring green electricity to the Western Balkans from countries such as Egypt and Tunisia; they are ready to invest in green energy and I hope we will succeed in quickly delivering electricity to the Western Balkans. All this means that the Western Balkans could become a new entry point for energy into the EU," said the European Commissioner.

Varhelyi noted that there is a huge challenge, not only in Serbia but also in member states, which is, as he says, the massive Soviet-style construction of residential buildings. These buildings, he states, consume enormous amounts of energy.

The European Commissioner stated that it is necessary to maintain the momentum of the EU enlargement process and in that sense stressed that EU leaders are coming to the region for the first time - to Tirana to discuss there, and that everyone needs to be engaged, but Serbia is also needed at that summit, as well as Serbia's leader.

Varhelyi said that the previous two weeks and months have shown that EU enlargement attracts attention, but also that there are major geopolitical destabilisations on the European continent.

"We are now responsible for meeting expectations and maintaining momentum because the enlargement process is one of the three main priorities of EU leaders. That is precisely the reason why we have a summit in Tirana where our leaders will come to the region for the first time, to talk with the region about the region. Everyone needs to be engaged, and we also need Serbia to be at the table and the leader of Serbia to sit at the table," Varhelyi said.

According to his words, great attention has been paid to EU-Serbia relations and enlargement policy because one thing that Russia's aggression against Ukraine has shown, as he says, is that the only real long-term solution for peace, stability, and prosperity is membership in the Union.

"We have three countries that decided to apply for membership immediately after the Russian aggression - what greater proof do you need," the commissioner stated.

"We must act together when we have common challenges, and perhaps even when challenges are not common. In June this year, our leaders confirmed a unanimous commitment to the membership perspective for the entire region because for us this is not only a geopolitical priority, but also a fundamental connection and a strategic choice," Varhelyi stressed.

President Vučić said that in Pristina they are doing nothing other than hyper-producing attacks on everything Serbian and creating tensions for which they will blame Serbs.

"I pointed out everything that has been happening since the beginning of the year and how the possibility of talks with the Pristina side has been undermined. Everything I said about Kurti, Trajković, and Rašić, I meant. Should I have used bureaucratic or diplomatic language? I could have, but no one would have heard us," Vučić said.

The Serbian President said that he also spoke with the European Commissioner about projects such as the Belgrade-Niš high-speed railway, for which the EU has provided significant support, including grants.

"We talked about the rule of law, and the Prime Minister, together with Minister Tanja Miščević, is working on a reform package, and I believe that the European Commission will appreciate all these changes and support them, and that we will make progress in the democratisation of society," Vučić said.

Vučić stated that he will not allow Serbia to become a tool for those who want to circumvent EU sanctions against Russia.

"We have reacted in cases of re-export of certain goods, and our state authorities have brought in people from companies that were involved in circumventing sanctions against the Russian Federation," Vučić said.