Assembly session on the election of a new government; Vucevic presented an exposé PHOTO/VIDEO

The address lasted for more than three hours, and exposé was followed by applause from the parliamentarians.

Ministers are not elected in embassies and tycoon companies

Prime Minister designate Vucevic said that ministers are not elected in embassies, but in the Assembly.

"Serbia is an independent, free and sovereign country. We respect all our international partners and friends. We make decisions independently with regard to the people we nominate for the most important state positions, including for members of the government, i.e. for ministers. At least since 2012, the government has been elected on the basis of the parliamentary majority, and the parliamentary majority is obtained by the will of the citizens. It is no longer made either in embassies or in restaurants or in tycoon companies".

Speaking about the EU, he said that it is Serbia's path, but that we should carefully monitor what is happening in other parts of the world.

"Everything that is in the interest of Serbia will be part of our international policy."

The Assembly confirmed the mandates of the MPs who come to the vacant seats

The Parliament of Serbia confirmed today the mandates of the MPs who will take the parliamentary seats in the parliament, instead of those who previously submitted their resignations due to leaving for ministerial positions.

The President of the Assembly, Ana Brnabić, stated that the mandates of MPs Staša Stojanović, Nataša Ivanović, Nikola Lazić, Igor Jakšić, Dan Stanojčić, Tatjana Petrović Stojković, Mladen Grujić, Nikola Bokan, Branko Vujković, Ilo Mihajlovski, Dragan Ninković, Jelena Bogdanović, Dušan Radosavljević, Igor Braunović, Natasa Bogunović and Rejhan Kurtović were confirmed. MP Djordje Milićević's parliamentary term of office was terminated after he submitted his resignation.

Vučević on the opposition's disinterest in Kosovo and Metohija

"As a representative, I came before you to present the program and composition of the government, to discuss it, and in these first statements I did not hear any desire to discuss what I presented".

Vucevic says that he realized that most of the opposition MPs didn't even listen to it because they were outside the hall, that is, they were constantly coming in and out.

"It was especially problematic when I spoke about Kosovo and Metohija. You told me to speed it up and skip it. When I spoke in detail about Kosovo and Metohija, one of the so-called leaders of the opposition told me to skip it and that it was boring".

Ćuta showed the mirrors to Milica Djurdjević Stamenkovski, to which Vucevic said that he was proud of each proposed minister and that everyone should first look in the mirror and then criticize others.

Jovanov: There was an extensive exposé, but not a single word about the fight against alcoholism

MP Milenko Jovanov spoke about MP Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, who spoke before him.

"There was an extensive exposé, but you didn't say a single word about the fight against alcoholism. And, as you can see, the Assembly also suffers, and some suffer from alcoholism. You can see that yourself. We listened to the same speech of Ćuta when the President of the Assembly was elected, it's just that he was taking out Vesić's picture from his wallet, and today he's taking out mirrors with powder. His neighbors are talking about that too. You can't expect someone like that to say anything meaningful about the exposition."

Novakovic tried to cause an incident, Brnabić removed him from the session

Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, ordered Borislav Novaković to be removed from the session.

"You have a mouth, so you can speak. You have no right to approach the representative. You have no right to physically threaten him and prevent him from speaking. Shame on you. You could have spoken. I am glad that all the citizens could see what your policy of violence and disrespect for this house looks like. I am glad that the whole diplomatic corps could see what you are doing."

She also reprimanded Srđan Milivojević for disrupting the speaker and throwing things.

Vučević presented an exposé

Vucevic stated that the government he will lead will be, to the greatest extent, a government of continuity. He pointed out that our country, after fiscal consolidation in 2014, entered a phase of development unparalleled in its recent history.

"Foreign policy will be based on national interests"

"Our country has entered a phase of progressive development, unparalleled so far. We cannot say that we are not affected by events in the world. It is certainly not easy to talk about foreign policy today. Due to storms that hit from all sides, foreign policy must be firmly based on clear and universally acceptable principles. The two cornerstones of our actions towards the outside world, which the current President of the Republic set, when he took office ten years ago, are political independence and military neutrality. Peace is priceless for us and we will always support it.When it comes to the region, Serbia's contribution to preserving peace and stability will be active and continuous. When we talk about our advocacy for the preservation of peace and stability in the Western Balkans, it is not something that comes only from the values and principles by which we are guided, but is also an expression of our very practical interests. Namely, it should be clear to everyone that everything we have achieved in the previous ten years, from the development of infrastructure to the growth of salaries and pensions, that none of it would actually have been possible if we had not had a peaceful and stable environment in the previous decade'', Vucevic said.

He said that full membership in the European Union remains Serbia's strategic priority.

"Full membership in the EU remains the strategic goal of the Republic of Serbia, and the government that I will lead will continue its dedicated work to fulfill all existing criteria through the implementation of reform processes that, in the end, are primarily beneficial for our citizens and our economy. We will work hard on it. However, it is up to the EU itself and its members to finally open the door. This does not mean that we are ready to neglect relations with our traditional friends", Vučević said.

He particularly emphasized the importance of Serbia's strategic relationship with China.

"Despite the contrary views of many in the West, for us China is a friendly country and a reliable ally in the defense of our territorial integrity, and our position towards the One-China policy will not change. I am very much looking forward to the upcoming visit of President Xi to Belgrade and I am sure that it will mark a new chapter in the development of friendship between Serbia and China. We have clearly condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine, but we have also expressed our disagreement with the policy of sanctions against the Russian Federation, which we do not want to join. However, the territorial integrity of Ukraine is inviolable for us," said Vucevic.

Then he added: "The USA is a world power, of course it is in our interest to build the best relations with them. I firmly believe that our relations can be at a high level. Where there are fundamental disagreements, such as when it comes to the status of Kosovo and Metohija, we will tirelessly repeat our position and we will never deviate from it. We will work as much as necessary so that our American partners hear us and understand our arguments as much as possible. Foreign policy will be based on the national interests of Serbia."

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"A shorter form of compulsory military service will be proposed"

"The future government will continue with intensive investments in the Serbian Army. A shorter form of mandatory military service of a maximum of four months will be proposed. During that time, we could get a trained soldier and a safer and more secure country," he said.

Vucevic said that one of the main priorities of the government will be to raise and preserve the standard of living of citizens through economic strengthening and advancement.

"Our biggest challenge will be, without a doubt, the defense of sovereignty."

The PM designate stated that this government, from the first days of its mandate, will face serious and far-reaching foreign policy challenges, adding that in this sense, the biggest challenge in the coming period will be, without a doubt, the defense of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, i.e. the fight for Kosovo and Metohija.

"These days, there is an obvious intention to once again trample on the international law and sovereignty of Serbia and to bring Pristina into the membership of the Council of Europe. Such treatment of our country has once again confirmed that there is no unique case when it comes to a unilaterally declared fake state on area of our southern province," said Vucevic.

The term "unique case" has been widely used since 2007 until today by those who are trying to tear our country apart and steal it, said Vučević.

"The question arises - why? I believe that by using the word unique case for Kosovo and Metohija, they actually want to hide what is a solid principle established in their norms of international law - that no norm or principle of their international law applies to Serbia and Serbs. Because that's the only way they can continue to pretend to be principled, even though they deny and take away the same rights from Serbs in one territory that they recognize and protect for all other peoples in that same or immediately neighboring territory," said Vucevic.

Apart from the new brutal violation of international law, the secessionists would be de facto rewarded for the persecution, systematic disenfranchisement and oppression of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija by admission to the Council of Europe, said Vučević and added that significant steps have recently been taken in this direction by the declaration of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

"Continuing work on that shameful process will not only be an act of humiliating Serbia, but also an attack against all the foundational values of that international organization of which Serbia is a dedicated member," said Vučević.

Vucevic said that the Government of Serbia will be forced to react adequately if Pristina's membership in the Council of Europe becomes certain.

"It is quite clear that in this situation Serbia is the victim of a political response, part of the collective West, to the situation in Ukraine, but this also sends clear messages to Serbia, as a candidate for full EU membership, about the prospects of its European integration, which the Serbian government will also have to deal with as a new fact," said Vucevic.

He pointed out that the government, in accordance with the recent agreement between the President of the Republic and the government in the technical mandate, will do everything to prevent the admission of self-proclaimed Kosovo to the membership of the Council of Europe, although the chances are not great.

"The alleged sanctions that the West occasionally imposes on Pristina are only cosmetic measures aimed at faking the usual political or diplomatic practice, which is confirmed by the fact that the allegedly reprimanded and sanctioned Pristina participated in all international forums organized by those who punished them in the past year'', Vucevic said.

He also recalled that Pristina received visa liberalization, and recently it was "punished" by opening the door for access to the Council of Europe.

"Having all the above in mind, Belgrade will remain committed to the dialogue with Pristina if it turns out that something productive can result from that process that would contribute to peace and stability in the region," said Vučević.

He recalled that almost from the first day after Kurti came to power in 2021, Prishtina had continuously taken escalating moves, adding that with those actions, it continuously carried out well-planned, systematic and widespread violence against Serbs and more or less opened the way for them to create unbearable living conditions.

"The fact that as many as 494 ethnically motivated attacks on Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church have been registered since 2021, while a total of 669 such attacks were recorded for the entire nine years before Kurti came to power. These facts about the position of the Serbian people surprise only the supporters of Pristina, although Kurti told them from the beginning that he was not interested in dialogue, that the Serbs were criminals and that he could not guarantee that the blood of Serbs would not be spilled during the peaceful protests that they held to protect their basic rights," said Vučević.

"One of the main priorities will be to raise the standard of living"

He said that one of the main priorities of the government will be to raise and preserve the standard of living of citizens through economic strengthening and advancement.

"Prize for Olympic medal 200,000 euros"

Vucevic said that when it comes to sports, the new government will continue to recognize this important segment for the health of the nation and that through the Leap into the Future program, it will make significant investments in sports.

"It is foreseen in the agreement with the President of Serbia and with the athletes, that the prize for each gold Olympic medal at the Olympic Games in Paris will be 200,000 euros, which is almost three times more than at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, when the prize was 70,000 euros", emphasized Vucevic. 

"The new government will carefully guard religious tolerance"

PM designate Vucevic said today that the government he will lead will carefully guard religious tolerance and that every dignitary of the traditional Christian, Islamic and Jewish religious communities will have an adequate interlocutor in it.

"Church and state are separated. Serbia is a secular state and in it all traditional religious communities enjoy equal rights. I understand the need for religious communities to publicly express their views on issues that concern their flock and I will always listen to them carefully," said Vučević

The session is attended by 195 MPs

President of the Assembly said at the beginning that 195 MPs are attending the session.

At the beginning of the session, the President of the Assembly, Ana Brnabić, noted the resignations of 11 deputies that were previously considered by the Committee for Administrative-Budgetary and Mandate-Immunity Issues.

Dejan Ristić, Zlatibor Lončar, Jelena Žarić Kovačević, Tatjana Macura, Petar Petković, Arnaud Gouillon, Milan Krkobabić, Ivica Dačić, Novica Tončev, Slavica Djukić Dejanović and Usama Zukorlić resigned.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ana Brnabić, said that the parliament will work even after 6 p.m.

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Yesterday, Vučević announced the names of 31 members of his cabinet that he will propose to the parliament, among whom there are eight new people, while three people will return to the government after some time.

Vucevic also proposed that the new government have four vice-presidents and five ministers without portfolios.

There are four non-party figures, and there are 10 women, said Vučević and added that the participation of the SNS is even greater, and that the majority of new ministers were proposed by the SNS, as well as the largest number of women.

"We took into account how many are new and old, the question is who can respond to challenges and tasks, who can be part of a unique team, because it must not be a confederation of ministers," said Vucevic.

The common message, as he pointed out, is to be united in preserving state and national interests.

As provided by the Constitution of Serbia, the National Assembly votes as a whole on the Government's program and the election of the President and members of the Government.

• The session of the Assembly on the election of the new government has begun
• Detailed list: These are the new ministers
• Vucevic revealed the names of new ministers: This is the proposed Government composition

The government is elected if a majority of the total number, i.e. a majority of 250 MPs, votes for its election.

The government consists of the prime minister, one or more vice presidents and ministers, and may also have ministers without portfolios.

The number of Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers without portfolios is determined by the National Assembly at each election of the Government, upon the proposal of the Prime Minister candidate.

The mandate of the Government starts from the day of taking the oath before the National Assembly, and lasts until the end of the mandate of the National Assembly that elected it.

The oath reads: "I swear loyalty to the Republic of Serbia and I pledge my honor to respect the Constitution and the law, to perform my duty as a member of the Government conscientiously, responsibly and with dedication and to be committed to the preservation of Kosovo and Metohija within the Republic of Serbia."

The previous government, led by Ana Brnabić, consisted of 25 relevant ministers and three ministers without portfolios.

Ana Brnabić held the position of Prime Minister for three terms from June 29, 2017.