Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told CNN that he wants a fair political race in the elections and will congratulate the winner, no matter who he is. He added that he is not the first president of a country who subsequently wants to become prime minister. It is important to clarify that Vucin's interview was given before his resignation as president, which was announced last night.
Asked if he wanted to become prime minister after the end of his presidential term, with the journalist comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vucic replied that there were other similar cases.
"Rumen Radev did this in a member state of the European Union three months ago, but you didn't mention it," Vucic said, referring to the current Bulgarian Prime Minister Radev, who was previously the president of Bulgaria.
Vucic added that Alexander Stubb was the prime minister of Finland, and then the president. "Everyone is allowed, but not me", Vucic noted.
During the interview, he also spoke about the funeral of former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska Ratko Mladic, sentenced in The Hague to life imprisonment for genocide and other war crimes during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"We did nothing wrong. Of course, we had to provide a dignified, civilized funeral and all the logistics, as we always did with everyone else. He was a general, it was not a state funeral at all. There were no state honors. "My son went because he wanted to, he went as a private person, it was his choice," Vucic said.
He added that he himself did not attend the funeral, nor did Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić.
"This was the biggest funeral in the last 50 years, held on a Monday, during working hours. Why did so many people come? Do you think they came to support a criminal and a butcher? They believed that many unjust things had happened to us in the last 30 years. "You probably haven't heard of Rasim Delic, a convicted criminal whose funeral was attended by state representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, unlike us," Vucic commented.
Recalling his personal contact with the victims, Vucic mentioned his visit to Srebrenica and the lack of judicial accountability for the attack against him there.
"What I told my people and what I will tell you, what I stated publicly, is this: first of all, I went to Srebrenica for the 20th anniversary. I bowed my head and there I was almost lynched, almost killed. No one was held accountable for that. "No one was held responsible," Vučić said.
He stressed that a strategic priority for Serbia is preserving regional stability, linking this to difficult historical experience and modern economic indicators.
"But to answer the essence of your question - Serbia will preserve peace, stability and tranquility in the region. This is of utmost importance to us. Peace is of paramount importance and I will tell you why: we are the fastest growing economy in the region," Vučić added.