Orlic: We can promise we will fight for peace, development

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic said on Wednesday that, in a time when it was very difficult to make any promises for 2023, he could promise the Serbian authorities would fight to maintain a policy of peace and stability and economic development.

"Serbia has demonstrated that it is politically responsible and stable and that is how we will continue in the future. We will boost infrastructure, raise wages and pensions and continue to address the issue of new investments intensively and pursue an independent, free and sovereign policy of our own, because the people expect that, but also because it ensures everything else I was talking about," Orlic said, opening World in 2023, an annual conference hosted by Color Media Communications.

It is impossible not to feel the consequences of a pandemic and a war in Europe and it is difficult to talk about events in 2023 also due to the difficult situation in Kosovo-Metohija, Orlic said.

"Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija are fighting for what should go without saying in all parts of the world. They want peace for their children, a future and the right to live, but people who have lost their minds are on the other side. Serbia is desperately fighting for peace, its people and their rights, and it is difficult to talk about predictions in a situation like that," Orlic noted.

He noted that Serbian authorities were constantly calling on international actors to help maintain peace, and noted that an honest approach to one's own commitments and respect of international law or the UN Charter were an exception in the world today.