Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar said that he was sorry if anyone felt offended or discriminated against, after his statement about Montenegrins in leadership positions in Serbian health care, because, as he points out, that was not his intention.
As reported by the Tanjug agency, Lončar explained that everyone should know that Serbia is not a "punching bag".
"I am really sorry if someone was offended or discriminated against. Everyone knows that I am not a person who hates or who, God forbid, would discriminate against someone. This is absolutely not right," said Lončar, commenting on the reactions caused by his earlier statement, that in There are Montenegrins in Serbia who haven't learned "Serbian" yet, and that he is trying to make sure that there are as few of them in the health department as possible or that there are none.
Lončar added that we live in a time when every statement is subject to manipulation, spinning, taking it out of context, and repeated that he does not hate anyone.
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However, the minister should not talk about spin and manipulation - since there is a video for all the allegations and it is on television with a national frequency.
"But everyone should know that Serbia is not a sack that will be hit by anyone, anytime, whenever they feel like it," Lončar concluded in his apology.
Speaking on O2 television, Lončar said that he "sees that there are no" Montenegrins in his department, and then appealed to the members of this national minority to "learn Serbian".
"In Montenegro, we don't have a single director or anything that declares itself as a Serb, and here in many leading positions we have Montenegrins who have not even learned Serbian yet, they don't know how to speak Serbian," said Lončar.
When asked if there are Montenegrins in healthcare, Lončar said that he has a policy of not having Montenegrins in his department.
"I see that they are not there. Serbia has enough people who know how to speak Serbian and who deserve to be. I am not disparaging anyone. Simply, if you want to live in Belgrade, if you want to be a director or hold a position, learn Serbian", confidently concluded Lončar.
The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, has so far not commented on the "outburst" of her minister, and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković, was the only official to condemn Lončar's statement and stated in a statement that such an attitude contradicts the Constitution and the principles of equality of all citizens.
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