‘Kurti Hates The United Nations,’ Declares President Vucic In Exclusive Interview With The Pavlovic Today 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was sitting on the rooftop of the iconic New York hotel amidst the steel and glass expanse that delineates Manhattan’s skyline. Dressed in a navy blue suit complemented by a crisp white shirt and a blue tie, he sipped on mint tea, a fleeting interlude after his meeting with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteras.

Vucic’s journey to the heart of New York City was spurred by an urgent  UN Security Council session convened in response to Kosovo’s government abrupt and unilateral suspension of the Serbian dinar. Despite “deep concern” and calls for an “immediate” suspension of the Kosovo’s government decision emanating from the corridors of power in the Biden administration and the European Union, Albin Kurti persisted in his course of action. 

Seated for an exclusive interview with The Pavlovic Today in New York City, Vucic, in response to the probing question regarding the main takeaways from the UN Security Council session, and whether the tide might be slowly shifting towards more understanding for the Serbian position, Vucic began,  “Well, I cannot say that exactly.” He paused briefly. “But what I can confirm, without a doubt, is that at least thirteen out of fifteen UN Security Council Member States noticed that [Kurti’s] unilateral decisions, particularly regarding the Serbian currency issue made by Pristina’s authorities, were not welcomed, were not good and not conducive of the tranquility and stability of the region.”

Vucic underscored that despite substantial disagreements among the member states, an unmistakable discontent  regarding Kurti’s actions was palpable among representatives from the USA, France, China, Russia, and beyond.  “It was obvious,”  noted Vucic ,“that the UN Security Council member states were not happy at all with Kurti’s actions, because this is not a step of de-escalation. Quite the opposite.”

Drawing attention to a pivotal moment within the UN Security Council session, wherein Albin Kurti accused Serbia of transporting sacks of money into the northern Kosovo to finance various criminal activities and whatnot, Vucic offered his reflections.

“But then we said, this was done by an authorized and specialized British company,” he recounted. “People [in the chamber] were stunned to learn that. They couldn’t believe it at the first moment when I mentioned the name of the company, which is Henderson. They knew that I was telling the truth. And you saw that Kurti was speechless after that he did not mention it,” he noted.

Vucic said that “ There are a lot of fabrications, a lot of falsehoods against Serbia’s sovereign and national interests, in the worldwide media.” He cited the Sandulovic case as a prime example.

Asserting the significance of the UN Security Council sessions, Vucic emphasized, “This was a good platform and a good opportunity for us to react properly and responsibly. And I believe we did it.”

Vucic: Caroline Ziadeh’s statement was truthful

In response to The Pavlovic Today’s question regarding his assessment of Kurti’s evasion tactics in light of Caroline Ziadeh’s presentation of compelling evidence of  showcasing Kurti’s unilateral actions fueling regional instability, President Vucic offered his perspective on the unfolding events within the chamber.

​​”I can say that Caroline Ziadeh’s statement was relatively harsh but truthful. She’s worrying and worried a lot because of the situation in Kosovo. She couldn’t hide it. She didn’t want to hide it. And of course, Kurti did not like that. He didn’t want to refer to her at all because Kurti hates the United Nations’ presence there. He, as a matter of fact, hates the United Nations as an institution, as an organization,” said Vucic. 

“He was insisting only on NATO, NATO, NATO and nothing but that. Trying to flatter the United States of America, trying to trick them again,” Vucic continued.

”But I believe the US will not swallow it this time, and they will carry on their justified pressure on him to just avoid further escalations in the field.”

At the UN Security Council urgent session, Vucic spoke about the targeted ethnic violence against Serbs in Kosovo, particularly regarding cases involving the killings of children and other civilians.

—Did anyone say something about the cases you mentioned about the killings of children and others?

“No,” he said definitely. “No,” he repeated emphatically. “This has never reached the international public.”

—Why?

“Because it doesn’t fit the narrative,” he responded. “How can you explain—from their point of view—why we created such a fake state? And [how can you explain] that in that state, allegedly, or really, there are things that are just decreasing the reputation of those who are supporting Albanians in creating, either ‘entity’ from our point of view, or from their point of view another Albanian state in the Balkans. And that’s why they didn’t need it,” he said. “But they all embraced every single story from Banjska. And that became the biggest story with us. That’s what fits well. That’s it.”

—Are you going to keep citing these cases of 470 ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs that took place since 2021 in the future?

“Yes, I will do that. That’s my promise. And that’s my obligation. It’s something that is compulsory to me,” he pledged.

Moving to the topic of  the British company’s truck intercepted by the Kosovo Police Force, a crucial question emerges: What emboldens PM Albin Kurti to dispatch law enforcement to intercept the British company?  When asked whether he had the opportunity to address this matter with Rishi Sunak’s government, Vucic revealed some insights.

“No, I didn’t speak to them because I believe that they would have supported Kurti,” Vucic said bluntly. 

— Over the British company?

“Yeah, they will say, ‘Okay, they’re gonna transfer euros in the future for you.’ And it’s something, you know, because whatever we do, they have always been on the Kurti side,” Vucic remarked, highlighting the UK’s traditional support for Albanians in Kosovo.

“But even they, I need to be very fair and admit, even they were saying that they were not very happy with Kurti,” Vucic referred to  the statement by the Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on Kosovo. Kariuki condemned the Kosovo government for showing “insufficient regard” for the impact on Kosovo’ minority communities.

 “At least they were not happy with the technical issues,” said Vucic of the British statement to the Security Council.

Vucic: Nobody needs new hotspots, neither the United States of America, nor Russia

In geopolitical terms, witnessing a convergence of opinions among major world powers is a rare phenomenon. How does President Vucic evaluate an unanimous agreement at the UN Security Council spanning from the United States to Russia, from the United Kingdom to China, in response to Kurti’s unilateral decision to suspend the Serbian dinar?

“If I may define it, I will define it this way. Nobody needs new hotspots. Nobody needs new problems. Nobody needs escalation in the Western Balkans, neither the United States of America, nor Russia. And I believe that that was one of the reasons why everybody was advocating de-escalation and tranquility in the region. That was maybe the only case —everything else that we might discuss in the future, it will sound different, will have different tools and different conclusions from different sides,” he said. 

Following the UN Security Council’s message to Kurti and the repeated calls from the United States for the Kosovo government to suspend its decision, does President Aleksandar Vucic believe that Kurti is now going to backtrack?

“No,” Vucic responded succinctly.

“Kurti hopes to win big in the elections that he’s going to call very soon. And that’s his idea. Kurti’s ideologically somewhere eighty years ago, like the best successor of Enver Hoxha politics, an anarchist, Marxist, ideologically very strong against Serbia. No compromises. Compromise is a bad word for him. No concessions, and he’ll keep on going against Serbian people in order to expel them all from Kosovo. I have no doubts about it. And I know that is his main and final target and aim.”

Regarding Serbia’s foreign policy priorities for 2024 and bilateral relations with the United States, how does he comment on the fact that the US will be giving 246 Javelin missiles to Pristina?

“Speaking about Javelins, I discussed it with the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Mr. O’Brien and all the others. They brought the decision even before Banjska happened. Well, that’s their decision,” Vucic responded.

“They know that we have very strong armored vehicles, units and everything else. They did it on purpose. That’s their decision, which we disagree with,” stated Vucic.

“The United States of America that’s the number one world power. We, as a small country, need to do as much as we can to get closer to them and to make better cooperation in the future,” shared President Vucic.

“Whether we will always agree with them or not —I’ve no doubt that it won’t be the case—but as much as we can do to build trust and confidence between us, that’ll be better for our country.”

Amidst the complexities of the Middle East and Ukraine, the geopolitical terrain grows increasingly intricate. Secretary Blinken’s recognition of the “incredibly volatile time” resonated as a clarion call worldwide.  Reflecting on the global affairs complexities, the President delved into discussions he had with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“It’s really difficult. You have so many wars in the world and so many geopolitical clashes and nervousness widespread among most important people and most important countries in the world that no one can predict anything. I discussed it with Secretary  Guterres,” he revealed.

“Everything is pretty much unpredictable. Nobody knows what might happen. And our job is to secure peace and stability in the region, and bigger growth rates. That’s my dream. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

—Is the era of one sided narratives over?

“You’ll never know—I hope so,” Vucic responded.

“There are things that are more important than one-sided  biased or unbiased narratives and that is what we do. And I hope that we’ll all understand that we need to respect each other. And that compromise should be a good word for all of us, including the big powers.”

Forging Common Ground: President Vucic’s Message to President Biden

The President of Serbia in this UN address emphasized the urgent need for the Security Council to take decisive measures to stop the persecution of Serbs. 

Amidst the United States’ continued support for the EU-led dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, with a focus on diplomatic solutions, what specific message does President Vucic aim to convey to President Biden in order to facilitate the resolution of challenges confronting Serbs in Kosovo?

“I believe that we would relatively easily be able to find a common ground for at least some small things that we can resolve together. Big things and differences would have remained or maintained, but small things will be able to be resolved very soon,” revealed Vucic.

“I have only good memories from our last meetings, and I believe that we’ll have a chance to meet again.”

***

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