Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country is "too small to threaten Turkey" following his statements on Turkey's drone deployment in Kosovo, describing it as NATO's second-largest military power.
Speaking at a press conference, Vucic spoke about the recent delivery of Skydagger kamikaze drones from Turkey to Kosovo and commented on the state of bilateral relations between Belgrade and Ankara, they write. foreign media, the Telegraph reports.
While responding to accusations by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani that he had threatened Turkey, Vucic reiterated that Serbia is "too small to threaten" a nation he described as "a great power," claiming that his comments had been misunderstood.
We recall that the day before, the Serbian president had "harshest words towards Turkey", following the news about Turkey's delivery of drones to Kosovo.
On the official account on the social network "X", he had said that it is now completely clear that Turkey does not want stability in the Western Balkans and that it dreams of reviving the Ottoman Empire.
"I am appalled by Turkey's behavior and brutal violation of the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 1244, as well as the continued arming of Kosovo."
"It is now completely clear that Turkey does not want the stability of the Western Balkans and dreams of restoring the Ottoman Empire again. Serbia is a small country, but we understood the message well," Vučić stated on Wednesday.
Vučić also spoke about criticism in the Serbian media regarding his personal friendship with Erdogan.
In this regard, even after Turkey's weapons transfer to Kosovo, Vučić defended his relationship with the Turkish leader.
"When it comes to President Erdogan, I will always be a good host," he said. "We are talking about a great leader and a great and successful country...", Vucic added.
He stressed that maintaining good relations with Turkey and protecting Serbia's national interests were not mutually exclusive goals.
Vučić added that he had previously discussed Turkey's military cooperation with Kosovo directly with Erdogan at the "Turkish House" in New York in September 2024, which he described as "one of President Erdogan's other achievements."
He recalled that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also participated in the meeting.
"About a year ago, I asked President Erdogan to stop supplying weapons to Pristina," he said.
According to Vučić, Kosovo authorities are working on a ten-year plan to transform the Kosovo Security Force into a full-fledged army, with Turkey playing a leading role in this process. He listed several Turkish-made systems supplied to Kosovo.
The Serbian president underlined "the importance of Turkey's position for regional stability."
"We do not need an escalation of tensions," he said. "We will maintain peace and stability and ask our Turkish partners to communicate with us and take our interests into account." /Telegraph/
