Vucic: I will write to UNGA president over procedural violations

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday evening he had spoken with the UN General Assembly president and that he would send a letter to him via a special envoy on Monday to request that all procedural breaches regarding a Srebrenica resolution be considered thoroughly.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Republika Srpska officials, Vucic said the procedure included the necessity of Bosnia and Herzegovina being dealt with by the UN Security Council as it was an unstable region where international forces had been deployed and where there is "the man they call the special representative."

"They want to move the vote from the UNSC to the UNGA and switch to a culture of peace. The other breach is that a two-thirds majority is required in the Assembly, while, if it is about remembrance, a simple majority is required, and even if there are a hundred abstentions, a declaration is passed," Vucic said.

He said Germany, the UK, the US, France and Turkey were the biggest sponsors of the resolution.

He also said Serbia would use all non-military, political means to oppose all NATO countries, from Turkey to Germany.

"However, we know our chances are minimal, but we will fight until the last moment. (Republika Srpska) President (Milorad) Dodik asked Serbia to fight. We will fight until the last moment and for every vote."

"Let me ask those from NATO: When we raise the issue of the bombing and the aggression on Serbia, why do you ask us 'Why are you going back to the past?'" Vucic said.

"That happened only 25 years ago, and now they want to take us back 29 years back into the past," he noted.

Reiterating that Serbia would fight until the last moment, Vucic said a difficult period was ahead of the country in which even its Council of Europe (CoE) membership would be reassessed.

He explained that the so-called Kosovo's admission to the CoE could, in fact, mean Serbia's departure from the organisation.

Asked by Tanjug if Serbia's purchase of French-made Rafale fighter jets was conditional upon imposing sanctions on Russia or something else and whether Serbia would impose sanctions on Russia, Vucic reiterated Serbia's position on the issue and said it had not changed since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.

"Serbia is proud of its stance. Serbia is small when it comes to its size and population but big when it comes to its heart. Serbia has not and will not change its stance. No one has blackmailed it, and no one can," Vucic noted.