Vucic: Serbia is being attacked from both outside and inside

JAGODINA - Addressing a Jagodina rally about the establishment of a Movement for the People and the State, President of Serbia and Serbian Progressive Party member Aleksandar Vucic said the gathering demonstrated how large a number of people wanted to protect and defend their Serbia from attacks from both the outside and the inside.

"I want to say a big thank you to you for coming to Jagodina in such large numbers," he said.

Today, Serbia is being attacked both from the outside and the inside, he said.

"As I speak about that and as I say that big thank you, I am fully aware of the gravity of the times we are in. Our people are under pressure in Kosovo-Metohija. In Kosovo-Metohija, they are trying to expel the Serbs from both the north and the south. Those who are attacking Serbia from the outside have no problem with that whatsoever. On the contrary, they support that. And that is not even a topic for many who are in the country," Vucic said, noting that this had also not been a topic when ethnic Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija had declared independence in 2008.

"They were also silent in 2004, when Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija suffered a pogrom and when 30 churches and monasteries were razed," he added.

"They were silent then, too. When Montenegro was leaving, they were silent, too. And we have now heard, dear people, that they had an agreement in place for Montenegro to leave and that that - giving up on Montenegro and Kosovo-Metohija - was the condition for them to get foreign support to get to power in Belgrade. And even that was not enough - they robbed Serbia in a way no one else had ever before. They robbed it between 2000 and 2012. They became rich and the people became poorer than ever," Vucic said.

They are now lecturing the government and want to return to power, he said.

"They want to misuse children in Serbia in order to return to power," Vucic said.

"It is no coincidence that those who are outside are attacking Serbia. Our job is to assess the geopolitical situation and preserve the independence of Serbia. They want to return us to 2000, when we were subjugated and enslaved, when someone else was making decisions on behalf of Serbia," he also said.

"They want to tell us 'you cannot be an independent country.' They want determine when and against whom we will impose sanctions," Vucic said, noting that Serbia would not impose sanctions on Russia or any other friendly country as long as he was president.