Visiting the works on reconstruction and modernisation of the railway line from Niš to Dimitrovgrad, in the section Pirot–Sukovo, president Aleksandar Vučić stated that this was a very important project for the South-East of Serbia and expressed gratitude to the EU for its support. Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret also participated in the visit to the works site.
“It was unthinkable that we construct the highway up to the Bulgarian border. We know how much we suffered for decades through Sićevo gorge, unfortunately we know how many lives we have lost there. Today everyone is using that highway and I think that we have not had any larger tragedy”, Vučić said.
He recalled that with the EU support the gas interconnector with Bulgaria was constructed and thanked the Bulgarian partners and the EU representatives as well that we had also been able to construct the Balkan Stream.
“I could gain as many political points as you’d like and say something bad, but I have to say that I owe enormous gratitude to the European Union and European Commission, their representative office in Belgrade, because those people gave us extremely large sums of money so our Serbia could be even more developed and be a better place for living”, Vučić said.
He underlined that together with the EU we would build Belgrade – Niš high-speed railway, as well as Niš railway bypass, which would mean so much for that city.
These are huge changes for our country, Vučić added and said that we needed to constantly build new roads, new logistic centres, new railway lines and other.
Vučić said that the European Growth Agenda was important for our country and reforms for the Single European market.
“Reform processes agenda should lead us to the Single European market as it is quite difficult for us at this moment to reach the Single European market. We have used various tricks and miracles for that in the past”, Vučić said.
As an example he mentioned import levies to protect the domestic farmers, which would not be possible anymore.
“At one moment, that will not be possible anymore in the way I have fought for our country, they could say that I have deceived them. I think that we need to have a strong country that can be a part of the Single market. And if anyone from the Western Balkans could be that in the future, without serious adverse consequences and with many fantastic and favourable consequences, that is Serbia. And I have much more confidence in this type of reform agenda, in getting this type of opportunity for green lanes and completely free movement of people, capital, services, more than in the mere money”, Vučić said.
He said that in addition to the European grants, we also received the favourable loans.
Vučić underlined that the public debt in Serbia would not exceed 55 per cent of the GDP, although in some EU countries that percentage would go up to 240 per cent.
The President said that we would also have to reconstruct the Bar railway line on the section from Valjevo to Vrbnica at the Montenegrin border as that line would revive that part of the country.
“We have to do that around Kragujevac as well. What are we going to do when Stellantis starts manufacturing (electric) cars in a few months. We have to construct the railway line around Mind Park, to make it faster and better than we have planned. To connect Kragujevac with Kraljevo, with Čačak and then towards Užice, but also with Belgrade to make it incomparably faster than it was to this day”, Vučić mentioned.
Speaking about the borrowing conditions in Europe, he said that Euribor rates were still high and it was expected to drop when the European Central Bank would commence with reduction of interest rates, as expected in October or November.
Then the European loans would be more favourable, Vučić added.
“I have received an information yesterday that in several places we had our doctors back, even if they had many children abroad, some of them are the best surgeons, endocrinologists, couples from Sweden and the USA. I am very happy with that news and I invite all people to come back to their Serbia since it is possible to earn decent living and live relatively nice in our Serbia so we would continue building it together”, Vučić said.
Source: Tanjug
