Vucic: China clearly supporting Serbia, non-interference by foreign factors

DAVOS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had had important meetings in Davos on Tuesday, including a very important discussion with Chinese First Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, and noted that China's position was one in favour of preserving Serbia's territorial integrity and supporting Serbia when it comes to non-interference by foreign factors.

"We also discussed political affairs and I expressed full support for a resolution of the Taiwan issue by PR China in line with the principles of the One China policy," Vucic told reporters in Davos.

"The Chinese unequivocally expressed support for preservation of the territorial integrity of Serbia including Kosovo-Metohija as a part of our country. Also, we discussed affairs in our country, and the Chinese side made a very clear stand of supporting the state of Serbia and non-interference by foreign factors," he added, noting that interference by foreign factors was "evident and noticeable in the conditions we are in."

That was a very clear message from top Chinese officials, he said.

He noted that China was Serbia's second-largest trade partner and that the volume of bilateral trade - currently worth nearly 7 bln dollars - was growing.

"The number of Chinese tourists is growing day by day. We have established the latest (flight) route to Shanghai and we expect even more Chinese businesspeople to come here in the future," Vucic said.

He said that he had also met with many African leaders in Davos and that he had attended numerous meetings, including with outgoing EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak.

"We are waiting for Sorensen's appointment as the mediator in the dialogue, but the European policy on that issue is what I am concerned by. Not by Mr Sorensen himself, who, I assume, is a professional and a fair man, but by the European policy of lenience towards Kurti and their new announcements - in spite of all the provocations by Kurti - that they will let them (Pristina) join the Council of Europe and some other international organisations, but we will discuss that, too, with the Americans to see how to proceed," Vucic said.

He said he had also spoken with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and added that the meeting had confirmed the friendly bilateral relations and that they had agreed to continue the successful cooperation in the fields of economy, leading-edge technology and AI, as well as in military technology.

Vucic said he had also met with many European leaders, including the PMs of Lichtenstein and Belgium, as well as with Swiss ministers, to exchange views on all important issues.