Sırbistan Cumhurbaşkanı Vucic: "Türkiye, Balkanlar

Balkans

Serbian President Vucic: “Türkiye is the largest and most powerful country in the Balkans”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, “Türkiye is one of the biggest actors in the Balkans, even the biggest actor and the most powerful country. We expect support from Turkey in all processes.”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held a joint press conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom he hosted in the capital Belgrade. President Vucic stated that they had a one-on-one meeting with Erdoğan and discussed all the important geopolitical issues that Serbia and Turkey face, separately and together, after the signing of bilateral agreements. “I am grateful to President Erdogan for showing his good will to visit our country and always talk openly about all the issues that are not easy,” Vucic said. Vucic stated that they also discussed the two countries’ relations with the EU, their positions on the European path, and the EU’s attitude towards these countries.

“We increased our trade 7 times”

Stating that he learned a lot from Erdoğan about some other initiatives at the global level and that he believes that Serbia will benefit significantly from these negotiations, Vucic said that Turkey and Serbia have excellent economic relations and the trade volume increased 7 times until a few years ago. Vucic said, “We have good economic relations between Turkey and Serbia, we increased our trade by 7 times. We will complete the year with 2.6 billion euros. The number of Turkish citizens visiting our country is at the highest level compared to all other foreign nationals. Turkey is a country with which we try to establish friendly relations. Here “This is an important power, and that is why I am particularly pleased that we held the High Cooperation Council meeting today. It is important for us to establish much closer relations in the field of military cooperation and to establish a team to work on this issue,” he said.

“We highly appreciate Erdoğan’s position, leading an independent country in line with the interests of the people.”

Stating that they discussed the situation in the Balkans with President Erdoğan, Vucic said, “I listened to President Erdoğan carefully. I am grateful to Turkey and Erdoğan for attaching importance to listening to us. Erdoğan leads an independent, sovereign country in the interests of the people, not other powers.” We highly appreciate the position of Turkey. We are a much smaller country than Turkey, but we try to follow our own policy. I hope that we will be able to say that we have exceeded the trade volume of 3 billion euros and then reached 4 billion euros. “He will visit again and accept my invitation to visit Belgrade again. We will hold our next High Cooperation Council meeting in Ankara,” he said.

Emphasizing that the essence of all their meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the preservation of peace and stability in the region, because economic cooperation is only possible under these conditions, Vucic said, “All the issues we talked about are related to the increase in trade volume, the development of cooperation in the field of services, and economic progress. All “These are only possible when there is peace and stability,” he said.

Stating that they always talked openly with Erdoğan and discussed the issues they did not agree on, Vucic said, “I would like to thank President Erdoğan for understanding the problems in the Balkans very well and knowing that the only way to solve these problems is peace and dialogue.”

“Erdogan has always been a leader who supports peace and dialogue in the Balkans”

Stating that they attach importance to President Erdogan’s policy based on peace and stability in the Balkans, Vucic said, “I listened to Erdogan carefully. He has always been a leader who supports peace and dialogue in the Balkans. Erdogan, out of respect for international law, from Bosnia and Herzegovina “He also talked about his support for the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said. Vucic said, “Türkiye is one of the biggest players in the Balkans, even the biggest player and the most powerful country. We expect support from Turkey in all processes.”

“Türkiye is an important power at the Eurasian and world level”

Emphasizing that Turks rank first among foreign tourists visiting Serbia, Vucic said that they expect approximately 360 thousand Serbian tourists to visit Turkey by the end of the year. Vucic said, “We are always behind in this respect. Because Turkey opens to the Mediterranean and Istanbul is a world-class center. We have a direct flight line with the capital Ankara. Turkey is a country with which we try to strengthen our ties. Turkey is an important power at the Eurasian and world level.” he said.

“There is great potential for cooperation with Türkiye in the field of defense industry”

Stating that the fourth meeting of the Türkiye-Serbian High Cooperation Council was held today, Vucic said that many agreements were signed with Türkiye and they expect them to yield results. Stating that they are grateful to Turkish investors in Serbia, Vucic said, “There are many companies in the textile field and other fields. I believe that we will do a lot of work in the fields of energy and informatics in the future. President Erdoğan’s tremendous engagement and

“I believe that with their permission, we will achieve many results in the coming period,” he said.

“There is a great potential for cooperation with Turkey in the field of defense industry,” Vucic said, adding, “The Turkish defense industry is definitely much stronger than ours, but I must leave modesty aside and say that our defense industry is not at a level that can be underestimated or ignored. In this context, we have great opportunities in the future.” “I think we have a potential for cooperation,” he said.

Vucic said, “I have great confidence in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his attitude towards peace and stability. I believe that both sides will benefit from this cooperation. We have many ideas and we have formed a large part of our team. We know that we are needed from the Turkish side. On the other hand, “We are also thinking about what we can develop in the future in cooperation,” he said.

Emphasizing that Serbia has been criticized for having the largest military budget in Europe compared to its gross domestic product, after Poland, Vucic said, “I will never be satisfied with the state of our defense industry and army. Therefore, we need to develop our defense industry and army. We need to develop a strong military budget to maintain peace.” “I know how important it is to have a defense industry. Even though I have said many times that we do not want war, people do not want to understand that we must have enough forces and otherwise we cannot be a deterrent,” he said.

“Erdogan always calls me. Such friends, such people are very rare to find.”

Vucic said that President Erdoğan remembers and shows interest whenever there is a celebration, birthday or special day in Serbia. “When someone in my family gets sick, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan picks up the phone and calls me. Such friends, such people are very rare to find,” he said.

Stating that it is important to see what kind of situation Turkey was in before Erdogan came to power, Vucic said, “Look, what Erdogan did. He changed the face of the country. Today, Turkey is one of the most modern countries in the world. He really changed the face of the country. But no one can look back and accept the truth.” “He doesn’t want it,” he said. – BELGRADE