Vucic: I am going to Montenegro, it is important that I represent Serbia there

BELGRADE - Speaking to reporters after a meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday he would attend the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat, Montenegro, in spite of a warning from the Serbian Security and Information Agency that his life was in danger.

"As far as the Security and Information Agency is concerned, I have received a letter and I have read it. Of course, I did not discuss it with Mr Costa, but I am going to Montenegro and it is very important that I represent Serbia, so everything is normal," Vucic said at a press conference with Costa.

Vucic was responding to a question whether he had seen the Agency's warning, whether he would cancel the trip to Tivat as a result and whether he had discussed the security threat with Costa.

He noted that he would be speaking about other things in Montenegro - not in Belgrade.

"I will go down there and say to everyone's faces all I have to say about the various games where Serbia is portrayed as 'Little Russia' and they are portrayed approximately like the Baltic states, always threatened by us, and so on. So, I will be speaking about that, but in Montenegro. You know, I will be speaking about that, too, down there since I am not afraid of speaking the truth," he said.

On Wednesday evening, the Security and Information Agency advised Vucic against travelling to Tivat and warned that activities of crime clans in Montenegro posed a threat to his life.

Vucic: Ideas, plans for future exchanged with Costa

BELGRADE - Speaking to reporters after a meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday they had had an open exchange of ideas and plans for the future, which he noted was exceptionally important for Serbia as a country on the EU path.

"I am very grateful to European Council President Antonio Costa for this visit, for an open exchange of ideas as well as plans for the future. We had long discussions both last night and this morning, and that is exceptionally important for us as a country that is on the EU path and shares political and value-related views with Europe, as well as - most importantly for our people, I would say - the economy that connects us," Vucic said at a press conference with Costa.

He noted that Serbia-EU goods and services trade totalled 58 bln euros and that the EU accounted for the bulk of Serbia's exports and imports.

"What is also important is that our exports are growing," Vucic said, adding that Serbia alone accounted for as much as 57.1 pct of the region's exports to the EU.

"That also speaks of our economic progress, but that progress would not exist without European investments," Vucic said.

Vucic: I do not believe EU is blackmailing Serbia in any way, we are discussing investments with US

BELGRADE - Speaking to reporters after a meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday he did not believe the EU was blackmailing Serbia in any way, and added that, when it comes to cooperation with the US, Serbia was discussing numerous investments with the country.

"They (the EU) say what they have to say, we say what we have to say - there is no major philosophy there," Vucic said at a press conference with Costa.

Asked to comment on a strong momentum in Serbia-US relations and an economic partnership developing with Washington while Brussels is slowing Serbia down on the EU path for bureaucratic reasons, Vucic responded that numerous investments were being discussed with the US side and that there were many ideas for cooperation, but that he believed the efforts complemented everything Serbia was doing with the EU.

"I think there are no big problems there, but will there be political differences between the views of the Americans and the Europeans in the future? I have no doubt that there will, and they will never return to the level where they were before, until a few years ago," Vucic said.

"So, that is a question for both sides, not for us, but we are trying to do what is best for our country," he added.

Asked if the EU was blackmailing Serbia, Costa said the EU was not blackmailing anyone or creating obstacles for accession candidates, but working very openly with Serbian authorities to help them deliver on reforms as soon as possible.