Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić apologized for the statement that Slovenians are "disgusting", saying that he was referring to the session of the United Nations Security Council.
"If I hurt anyone in Slovenia, I apologize, but I will not apologize to Slovenian politicians," said Vučić from New York, as reported by N1.
"I said that the Slovenians were disgusting, referring to the session of the Security Council. That was the topic and it was clear to everyone that it related to the individual and related to their politics. It is certainly not the vocabulary that should be used, but I humanly said what I think about their policy," said Vučić in an address to journalists.
He added that he thinks the best of Slovenians as a people and that he has many friends and relatives in Slovenia.
"If I have offended anyone, I want to apologize to the entire public of Slovenia and at the same time say that I will not apologize to Slovenian politicians, because they lead a disgusting policy towards Serbia and the Serbian people," said Vučić.
He added that his statement was taken out of context and assessed as something "terrible", but that the violation of Serbia's territorial integrity was not assessed as "terrible".
"It's not terrible that they are sponsoring the resolution on Srebrenica against our people, without even consulting us, informing us, or asking us beforehand. I also use the opportunity to invite (Prime Minister of Slovenia) Robert Golob and President (Slovenia Nataša) Pirc Musar to Belgrade and Serbia. It is certainly necessary to apologize one more time, to point out that I was certainly not thinking of the Slovenians, but to tell them to their face what I think about their bad policy towards Serbia and the Serbian people," concluded Vučić.
"It was a shock for everyone"
N1 reporter Miha Orešnik said that the general public was very surprised by Vučić's statement, as well as that reactions came from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Tanja Fajon and Prime Minister Robert Golob.
"The general public was very surprised... Slovenians are now busy with the referendum and the European elections, which will all take place on June 9... So this statement by Vučić was like a bolt from the blue, nobody in Slovenia expected it... He did not follow the events in detail in UN, so it was kind of a shock for everyone," he told N1.
Oresnik says that there were also criticisms. "The reaction of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, who also reacted quite emotionally, and Prime Minister Robert Golob's press release, with the reaction, became quite quick... They didn't even wait for him to apologize, and it was clear that he had to, because his the statement was vulgar, primitive," adds Oresnik.
He also adds that the President of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar did not officially, publicly react, but, as the reporter says, he was informed by her cabinet that she supports the Government's moves.
"She is currently in Montenegro, so she has not yet announced whether she will visit Serbia. "We know that Vučić, with an apology, invited the prime minister and the president to come to Serbia," he adds.
"Somehow, the apology was expected, since everyone immediately understood what President Vučić wanted to say, even though he said it in his own recognizable way, and the politicians with whom he spoke informally told me that his reaction was very emotional, so he they didn't hold too much grudge", concluded Oresnik for N1.
Reactions to the statement
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in a statement on the sidelines of the UN Security Council session, used extremely offensive expressions that do not belong to the presidents of states, and even less to friendly relations between the Slovenian and Serbian people, Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob announced earlier.
"The words are reminiscent of some other time and are unworthy of the reached level of relations between the two states. "Slovenia carries out its work in the UN General Assembly and sincerely advocates for peace and reconciliation between peoples, therefore appreciation of our efforts is the least we can expect from the president of friendly Serbia, who is otherwise a regular guest in our country," the cabinet stated. Prime Minister Golob, as reported by N1 yesterday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia invited the chargé d'affaires to the Serbian embassy in Ljubljana for an interview.
The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, called Vučić's words offensive and unacceptable, which is why they decided to invite the Serbian charge d'affaires to defend them.
"We are asking for an explanation, an apology, that is not in the spirit of good neighborly and friendly relations," she said, calling Vučić's words untrue.
As she added, she does not imagine good cooperation if someone comes out with such offensive words and insults the entire nation.
"We expect Serbia to act in the spirit of the European values it defends," Fajon said at the time.
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