Vucic: We will preserve Serbia and not let anyone return it to past

IERISSOS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday he would preserve Serbia and would not let anyone return it to the past.

In an Instagram video he shot in Ierissos, Greece, en route to the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Hilandar on Mt Athos, Vucic said this year would "not be easy for us Serbs."

"Today, on Christmas Eve, I want to extend my holiday wishes to our people wherever they may live - not only in Serbia but across the region and worldwide - and wish them a Merry Christmas and the best possible year. This year will not be easy for us Serbs - they will try to pressure us from various sides, they will try to raise topics that have been closed a long time ago, they will try to dismember our territory and tear it up to pieces, which is what they have failed to do in the past 10-12 years, they will try to return us to the old state of affairs and into the past. We will never agree to that," Vucic said.

He said every trip to Hilandar had inspired mild and good thoughts in him, giving him new strength and the awareness of "how much those who governed Serbia in the past centuries invested in Hilandar, how much they loved it, how much they preserved it, how much they looked after its future, knowing that, by doing so, they were looking after Serbia's future as well."

"That is why I am certain that today, too, after attending the Christmas Eve liturgy and vigil and the morning Christmas Day liturgy, I will return stronger and more powerful and, together with you, dear citizens, succeed in preserving Serbia and in protecting it so that it may continue to see quicker growth than other countries. Long live Serbia! Merry Christmas Eve, and Christ is born," Vucic also said.