Vucic to have "important phone call with Putin"

Serbia will soon have ten operational MiG-29 jets and will not stop there, "as we want the citizens to feel secure," Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.

SOURCE: BETA, TANJUG THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017 | 17:07

Vucic added he would have "an important phone conversation" with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

"I will thank him for the assistance, because we got this (six MiG-29s) under best possible conditions, and we will continue to strengthen our army," the Serbian president said.

"We don't want any kind of conflict, but we want to be sure that we are able to protect, preserve and defend our country," Vucic said, after the opening ceremony of a new noodles factory in Ruma, a town in western Serbia.

The situation in the military, according to the president, is now "incomparably better than it was before." He recalled that when he became defense minister, "there was not a single MiG-29."

"We had one, plus one MiG-21, as well as two sidelined MiG-29s. Do not forget that I repeatedly said I was exposed to derision and attacks that the MiGs would never arrive, you saw that I wasn't even there to welcome them at the airport - because it goes without saying that when I tell the people and the citizens that I have reached an agreement with President Putin, that means it will be done," he said.

Soldiers will be more satisfied, Vucic pointed out, as they will receive "a significant, very significant increase in wages."

Speaking about Pristina's decision not to once again apply for membership in UNESCO, the president said that Kosovo would not do it in the coming years either, because of a lack of support in that UN body.

"My caution has been more accurate, better and spoke more precisely about the truth concerning who has a majority in UNESCO. Where did Behgjet Pacolli's 15 countries he mentioned in the hall of the UN building in New York disappear to? They will have to wait two more years, and I think this will not pass even after two more years," Vucic told reporters in Ruma.

He added that Serbia will continue to be vigilant and continue to fight for the preservation of its churches, monasteries and its cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija.