Vucic: Ironclad friendship between Serbia and China unbreakable

BEIJING - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia is unbreakable and that their relations will reach "new heights", for the benefit of both countries and both nations.

In an interview to China's Xinhua news agency that he gave during a visit to Beijing, Vucic noted that the two countries had always supported each other on issues concerning their core interests and coordinated closely in international affairs.

"I'll tell you an example. If you ask me something about Taiwan, I'll say to you, the one-China principle is the only principle that exists. Full stop. I can remember that China was very supportive to us when some big Western powers were going after us in the United Nations General Assembly. And I will never forget it. This is what I call friendship," he noted.

Vucic said China and Serbia had always stood by each other in times of adversity.

"When the Wenchuan earthquake struck in 2008, the Serbian government rushed emergency tent supplies to China; and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, China provided Serbia with multiple batches of medical protective equipment," he said.

Friendship is "proven in difficult times, then no one can break it in easy times," Vucic said.

"The world today longs for stability and peace, and China represents just that," he said, noting that people across the Global South, not only in Serbia, saw China as a vital source of stability.

He expressed confidence China would play an even greater role in global governance.

Commenting on his five-day state visit to China, which was concluded on Thursday, Vucic said it had been an honour to receive the Friendship Medal - China's highest honorary medal bestowed upon foreign nationals - and to get it from President Xi Jinping.

"That was a very special moment for myself and for my country as well," Vucic said, adding that the medal was "a real praise" for something he had been working on.

Recalling Xi's first state visit to Serbia in 2016, Vucic said:

"The words of President Xi meant everything to us. He promised that the steel mill in a small place of Smederevo would work, and it still works."

Commenting on a joint statement on continuous promotion of building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, Vucic said:

"Now we are elevating our relationship to another level, and we opened our discussions with new topics, new fields, and new spheres of possible cooperation in the future, like AI, robotics and high-tech innovations."

"This means the two sides are starting new chapters, sector by sector and field by field, in future development plans," he said.