Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said last night in Brussels, after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, that Croatia, Albania and Kosovo have opened an arms race in the region after they violated a subregional agreement from 1996 by signing a memorandum on defense cooperation on Tuesday.
Regarding the statement by Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anušić that Croatia can sign agreements with whoever it wants and that the time has long passed when it asked Belgrade what it would do, Vučić told journalists from Serbia accompanying him on his trip that they should have told Serbia "that they have terminated the signed agreements and that there is no longer sub-regional arms control."
"They have opened an arms race in the region. This is a difficult situation for us, but we have understood their message and we will preserve our country, and we will always successfully defend it from any potential aggressor, even from such a powerful one," said Vučić, stating that he raised the topic at a meeting with Rute.
He stated that he was "almost convinced that NATO was not informed that Croatia, Albania and Kosovo violated the 1996 subregional agreement" by signing yesterday's trilateral memorandum on defense cooperation.
"This is a violation of the subregional arms control agreement from 1996, but we have seen from the reactions from Croatia and other parts of the region that they are not very interested in it. I am almost convinced that NATO was not even informed and that they were not even told which agreements were violated, but I do not think that Pristina, Zagreb or Tirana will worry about it," Vučić added.
Vučić said that it was up to Serbia "to understand reality" and "to prepare for the future accordingly", stating that Belgrade "understood the message".
Anušić said today that "the time has long passed when Croatia asked Belgrade what it would do and how it would work," after the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would request a detailed explanation from the foreign ministries of Croatia and Albania about the signing of the memorandum on defense cooperation with Kosovo.
Regarding tonight's meeting with Rutte, Vučić said that NATO "showed great respect" for Serbia and that today was "a successful day for Serbia in Brussels."
"The one-on-one meeting (with Rutte) and the delegation dinner lasted two hours and 40 minutes. We discussed all important issues - bilateral cooperation, the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, relations between the Serbian Army and KFOR, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the main goal of preserving peace and stability in the region," Vučić said.
He added that these are "key matters, of crucial importance" for Serbia and that "for understandable reasons, he cannot talk about all the details."
"We will continue the talks, we will be in constant contact to preserve peace and stability and a conflict-free space in the Western Balkans. This is of enormous interest to us, but I would say also to NATO," Vučić said.
After meeting with Rutte, Vučić wrote on Instagram that he was "confident in even better cooperation between Serbia and NATO in the future."
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