29.04.2020.
Minister Vulin: The time of arrival of the assistance was also important
I’d like to say thank you to the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Turkey, and the European Union. I thank them in the order in which their assistance arrived. I am very grateful to the European Union for allowing us to buy their medical products now, I thank them for that. I suppose they have enough of them now, they needed them before and now they remembered us. We will buy them when we can, but I admit that it was very important to me that the Chinese aid arrived at the time when it was the most difficult. And it was important to me that Russian aid arrived at a time when it was the most difficult. The value of the assistance sometimes depends on the moment you send it, not only on its volume – the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin said at the session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia today.
He stressed that the citizens of Serbia vote for political parties that have a clear European path and that there is no dilemma there, adding that the Government, of which he is a member, has a clear policy when it comes to the European Union.
- I do not work against such a policy. My views are what they are and I have the right to say that I am grateful to the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation and Turkey, to everyone who helped us and I will not apologize for that. I have no reason to apologize for the truth, and that is the truth. I am a Eurosceptic, like Boris Johnson, like Salvini, like Sarkozy, a Eurosceptic like many Europeans, and the quote about the death of European solidarity was not first spoken in Serbia. It was spoken in Austria and in many other countries. You can ask the citizens of Italy what they think of European solidarity and what European solidarity looked like in Spain - said the Minister of Defence, emphasizing that he does not want to "lecture anyone".
- I want Serbia to be so advanced and strong that everyone wants it, even the European Union, but is it true that the first aid came from China and the Russian Federation? Yes, that is where it came from. Should we be grateful for that? Yes, we should. Am I grateful to the European Union for every form of assistance? Yes, I am. But do not ask me to pretend that no one else helped us when they did and they did it when it was most difficult and when the assistance was most needed. Assistance also arrived from countries struggling fiercely with the crisis. I hope that the European Union is grateful to President Vučić and Serbia for the help he has sent. I hope that the European Union is grateful for the assistance it has received in Italy, for the assistance that President Vučić has offered to other European Union countries. Serbia is strong enough to be able to do that,” said Minister Vulin.
