Vucic: Everyone is arming themselves, we are not lagging behind

BELGRADE - The entire world, including our region, is arming itself at an accelerated rate, but Serbia is not lagging behind, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday.

"Everyone in the region, too, is arming themselves, and it is our duty not to lag behind. All I can tell you is that we are not lagging behind. You will be able to see that soon, we will just notify you of the exact date," Vucic told reporters during a visit to the Russian House in Belgrade, in a comment on a statement by the new French PM that arming France was his priority.

Vucic said the statement was logical and added that Kosovo Albanian journalists had asked the Americans what they thought about an announced reinstatement of compulsory military service in Serbia and that the Americans had responded they were watching the situation closely.

"I, too, am watching closely all that is happening around the world - including in America, England, France, Germany and Sweden. We are watching everything everywhere closely. But what you do not have to watch closely and what you can see even if you do not see anything and pretend not to hear anything, is that everyone is arming themselves to the teeth," Vucic concluded.