Vucic: I believe in Magyar's pragmatism, I am very pleased with our conversation

PARACIN - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday he believed in the pragmatism of Hungary's future PM Peter Magyar and noted that he was very pleased with their telephone conversation on Tuesday about key topics for further advancement of overall Serbia-Hungary relations.

Vucic said the conversation had gone even better than he had expected. "

I believe in Mr Magyar's pragmatism, and I believe that we will continue on the path we embarked on yesterday. For me, it was a very, very, very important discussion and, as a responsible man, as a statesman and as president of Serbia, I am very happy and pleased with the tone that was set and the way we held the discussion," Vucic told reporters in Paracin, central Serbia, where he attended the opening of a new glass factory production plant.

He said he had congratulated Magyar on his recent election win.

"He is not hiding his political affiliations, and I am not hiding mine either. I am not switching friends or anything else, but we have a very strong and important interest in having good relations with Hungary, and I said that to future PM Peter Magyar. For their part, he said the same. We both expressed a desire to continue our close cooperation and to advance it. The discussion was better than I had expected, without any unpleasant tones, which also surprised me and which I think demonstrates Mr Magyar's determination to build good relations with Serbia," Vucic said, adding that the discussion had been "very good, important and substantial."

Asked about Serbia's joint projects with Hungary, Vucic said the two countries shared many energy and infrastructure projects.

"We have many projects. We store our gas in Hungary, they are trying to become the owners of NIS, and the gas Hungary is getting comes via Serbia. We still have a project to build a Novi Sad-Algyo oil pipeline. I mentioned just a part of the energy projects - I did not mention the rail line or the many other infrastructure projects that connect us, let alone Hungarians in Serbia, Serbs in Hungary, and everything else. Many things connect us with Hungary and having the best possible relations is a good thing," Vucic said.

Asked to comment on Magyar's intent to strengthen cooperation with Austria, Vucic responded that he did not believe this meant "a restoration of an empire."

"I do not see any problems there for anyone. I see that Brussels insists on that, I did not quite get the point - the man wants to have friendly relations with Poland, Austria, everything is OK," Vucic added.

Serbian Glass Factory opens new plant in Paracin

PARACIN - The Vaider Serbian Glass Factory opened a new production plant in Paracin, central Serbia, on Wednesday.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the company could count on government assistance and that he would ask the government to find a way to help the factory more to ensure it became the best in the region.

"Today, we have laid the foundations upon which I hope we will rebuild a good house that we have all managed to destroy in the meantime. This factory was once the strongest in entire Pomoravlje, this factory used to be building our cities and villages, not only in the Pomoravlje District but in all other districts as well," Vucic said.

He noted that Avram Petronijevic had founded the first glass factory in the Balkans in the vicinity of Jagodina, central Serbia, as early as in 1846.

"Since then, we have had a tradition of glass manufacturing and, while other Balkan countries were importing bottles, Serbia started to produce them. It was then that we demonstrated that, with our own hands and our own industry, we can shine and make a difference, and that we are capable not only of consuming, but of producing things as well," Vucic said.

After that, the workers and their know-how were moved to Paracin in 1907, and "a tradition of success and lack of success, openings and closures, has been going on since then," he said.

"Slowly but surely, through bad privatisations and all other processes, we kept succeeding in destroying something that is so valuable to us. Today, with our Swiss and Slovenian partners, we are building something new and trying to raise the factory from the ashes," Vucic added.

The ceremony was also attended by the Swiss and Slovenian ambassadors to Belgrade, Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic and Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic.

Earlier, Vucic met with the factory's owner Igor Lah and Vaider Group CEO Christian Froba.

The international Vaider Group, whose parent company Vaider Group AG is registered in Luzern, Switzerland, acquired the Paracin factory in late 2022.

The factory restarted production in 2024 and currently has a workforce of around 250, focusing on production of containers for food and beverages.