Vucic: I expect new Serbian gov't to be formed in March

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at the weekend he expected the new Serbian government to be formed in March and announced that he would this week unveil the greatest-ever development programme for Serbia that would be similar to the post-WWII Marshall Plan.

"As early as next week, we will unveil the greatest-ever programme - a kind of a New Deal, a Marshall Plan for Serbia, and a lot of hard work will begin for us," Vucic said during a visit to the Military Security Agency On-Duty Operations Centre on Saturday, adding that he believed the new government would be formed in March at the latest.

He said Serbia was preparing to achieve big things by 2027, including to significantly strengthen its army.

Vucic noted that continued arms supplies to the so-called Kosovo Security Force violated the international legal order and were contrary to UNSCR 1244 and aimed at erasing all traces of the existence of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbs in the territory of Kosovo-Metohija.

"Statements by certain officials of the so-called Kosovo unequivocally indicate that their goal is to destroy the Serbs," he said.

Vucic said a decision to provide more arms to Pristina had been made in the US Congress but was also being implemented through other countries - Turkey, in particular, as well as through other NATO states including Croatia.

"When they (Pristina) boast that all police patrols will be armed with long weapons, they send a clear message that there is no place for the Serbs, because only certain units are allowed and able to carry such weapons," Vucic said, adding that this was aimed at making the Serbs feel unsafe and leave Kosovo-Metohija as soon as possible.

Pristina has the fastest-growing police and military budgets even though it should have no police or army under international law, he said.

Commenting on last week's arrest of a Serbian national who had been working for Albanian spy agencies, Vucic said the Serbian Security Information Agency would continue to do its job but that there was no doubt that various foreign intelligence agencies and other agencies had stepped up their presence and activities in the territory of Serbia.

"Our country is a country that does not fit into the mould of obedience and subservience, our country is free and freedom-loving, our country is independent and makes its decisions in line with the interests of our people and our citizens, rather than with diktat from anyone abroad," Vucic said.