Vucevic: We are strengthening defence capabilities to protect our sovereignty

BELGRADE - Serbia is a militarily neutral country but, in view of the geopolitical situation, it must engage further on boosting its defence capabilities to protect its sovereignty, Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said on Thursday.

Vucevic was commenting on negative reactions from the West over Serbia's recent acquisition of a Russian-made anti-UAV system.

"And if we add to that all that is going on in Kosovo-Metohija and a policy of imposing solutions that is absolutely unfavourable, as well as the pressure on Serbs and the Serb community, that really leads us to being very, very focused on strengthening the defence capabilities," Vucevic said.

On several occasions in history, big powers have made demands to Serbia that were against the country's national and state interests, Vucevic said, adding that he expected such demands to be made in the coming period, too.

"I am not overly optimistic about the period to come either. It is almost certain we will face similar or the same pressure over certain issues, above all, the Kosovo-Metohija issue, but also over our relationships with Russia and the People's Republic of China. Definitely, the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Republika Srpska, to be more exact, should not be overlooked either," Vucevic said.