Vucic: There will be deep, substantial changes to Serbian foreign policy

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday announced deep and substantial changes to the Serbian foreign policy in the wake of Monday's Council of Europe (CoE) vote on the so-called Kosovo's application for membership in the organisation.

Vucic was speaking to reporters after a government session on the situation in Kosovo-Metohija that he attended at the invitation of PM Ana Brnabic.

"I would like to thank Hungary, Spain, Cyprus, Romania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the people who supported international public law and the UN Charter. We must not forget what they have done for us and we must always know that, to us, these countries are always above all others," Vucic said.

He said acts on the security strategy and a foreign policy strategy would be adopted accordingly.

"We will be working on that, including on elements that will ensure we take bilateral relations into account and do not go beyond the boundaries of reciprocity. If someone does not respect our territorial integrity, why would we respect theirs? Why would we protect someone's territorial integrity at all costs if they are against ours? Those are not tectonic, but deep and substantial changes to our policy, and a responsible attitude towards our country," Vucic said.

He said abstaining in Monday's vote was equivalent to voting in favour of the so-called Kosovo's CoE membership.

"All 46 member countries are expected to make a unanimous decision on the territorial integrity of Moldova and Ukraine at a CoE conference to be held between May 15 and May 20, and there is also Georgia, and we will see what our decision is. A decision must be made consensually, so voting against would not be easy, but I do not want to prejudge things, we will think about this more," Vucic said.

He said it had been known that EU member states and candidate countries loyal to Brussels and Washington made up the required majority in the CoE.

"It is nothing unexpected. The only thing that is unexpected is Hungary's decision, and I am endlessly grateful to (Hungarian PM Viktor) Orban for that. I asked him at the weekend to consider Serbia's position, and I expected them to at least abstain. They proved to be our best friends and voted against," Vucic said, thanking Orban and Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto.

He said he was disappointed by the decisions of some countries.

"We have never abstained when it comes to the territorial integrity of Ukraine... Ukrainian representatives requested a break to hold consultations and then decided to abstain," Vucic said, adding that Greece's decision to abstain had been "expected based on moves in the past months and years."