Vucic: West will not give up on so-called Kosovo's independence

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday evening Western powers would not change their positions on the so-called Kosovo's independence or give up on it and that, without a doubt, Serbia will be under pressure over the issue in the future, too.

In an appearance on the RTS, Vucic said he could promise Serbians that he would be safeguarding Kosovo-Metohija and all Serbian strategic interests intelligently, responsibly and wisely.

"We will be protecting our national and state interests, but intelligently, without putting into question the economic prosperity or the future of Serbia, which is very important. We will be preserving peace and stability as we steer the country on the path to the EU, while always firmly safeguarding our traditional friendships with the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, Arab states and many African, Latin American and Asian countries, and that will be Serbia's policy," Vucic said.

He said Serbia would see major economic growth in the period to come and a further decline of the already record-low unemployment rate, as well as continued reindustrialisation and investments in supercomputers, data centres and the IT industry.

"We expect further modernisation of Serbia, construction of rail lines, roads - all the things some people were unable to do while they were in power," Vucic said.