Vučić: The guys they brought back, who they say are bad, were putting out the fire on Luštica, they were wonderful then

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said today that the 87 men who were returned to Belgrade by Montenegrin security services on April 3rd "were fighting a fire on Luštica and were coming as volunteers from Serbia to help them put out the fire."

He said this while addressing reporters today in Tivat, where he is one of the participants in the EU-Western Balkans Summit.

When asked whether, regardless of the discomfort, "the friendly and brotherly hand of Aleksandar Vučić" will always be extended towards Montenegro, Vučić said that there is no doubt, reports Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).

"People in Montenegro are our sisters and brothers and anyone can write whatever they want on the walls. Usually, people write all sorts of things on the walls, but no one takes offense. So that's not a problem. We have a brotherly people living here and our relationship will always be like that. For those who were worried about whether we would let someone in or not, I spoke last night with members of our security services. Our brotherly people from Montenegro are welcome in Serbia, so there is no great philosophy there. That will continue and it will always be on our side. And the fact that some have tried to do, to make a profit for themselves by attacking Serbia, to raise their profile, that says very little or nothing about us," Vučić emphasized.

He said that a campaign was created in Montenegro about young men from Serbia who were returned from the airport in Tivat and stated that they were not bothered when they came to Montenegro to help put out fires.

"They were wonderful guys back then. The very guys they brought back, who they say are bad guys, were putting out fires here in Luštica, in the Tivat municipality, and came as volunteers from Serbia to help them put out the fire. They were wonderful guys back then," Vučić said.

Vučić thanked the Serbian people in Montenegro for all the welcoming messages he received.

"A message for the Serbian people in Montenegro - thank you to all the people. I have never received more messages from Serbs from here, from Montenegro. I thank them endlessly for the messages of welcome and for the messages of true hospitality, and we are, and will always be brothers. I want them to come to their Belgrade, to see how and how much Serbia is progressing, and to enjoy their home, to preserve their name and surname as they have always done, their clan, their language, their script, and we will always help as little as we can," the President of Serbia emphasized.

Responding to a question about certain people from Serbia making statements to Montenegrin media that he is allegedly part of the tobacco mafia and how he sees it, Vučić said that they had confused him with someone.

"Me, the tobacco mafia? They confused me with someone who is very tall, but that's not me. I have never dealt with any tobacco or anything else in my life," Vučić said with a laugh.

"Vijesti" previously reported that four Serbian citizens entered the territory of Montenegro on June 2nd with the intention of providing accommodation in prestigious hotels in Tivat for part of the group that was expelled from the country yesterday, from the airport in that coastal city, due to threats to national security.

A team of 87 men landed in Tivat on a charter flight operated by the Serbian national airline "Air Serbia" at 10:41 on the morning of June 3, and returned to Belgrade shortly before 4 p.m. According to the editorial office, the charter flight was chartered by the travel agency "Happy Travel" from Bijeljina.

Montenegrin security services said the group was expelled because they were a threat to national security, and that they had attended numerous public gatherings of high security risk, and that some of them were registered for committing crimes and misdemeanors with elements of violence. The team, which arrived in Tivat by charter flight, did not want to answer police questions about the reason for their trip to Montenegro.

Many of the passengers on yesterday's flight, who have now been banned from entering Montenegro, have been labeled by Serbian media, local opposition politicians, civic activists and students as "thugs" of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), i.e. the regime of Aleksandar Vučić - who are linked to the breaking up of student protests in Serbia, riots at sports events, causing incidents, organizing and camping in the so-called ćaciland in Belgrade's Pionirski Park in front of the Serbian President's building...

Vučić said yesterday in Tivat that the charter flight was organized by someone from his entourage who wanted to make his stay "more pleasant", but that it was a "big political mistake".