Serbian president launches 'people's movement' amid Kosovo tensions

In the face of Western pressure for normalized relations with neighbouring Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić wants to establish a "people's movement for the state."

In a sports hall in the small southern Serbian town of Vranje on Saturday in front of numerous activists who had travelled there, he called on people to join his new "non-partisan" movement, which is to be founded by the beginning of June.

Its goal is "wise, prudent and responsible politics," he said, the Belgrade-based news agency Tanjug reported.

On the subject of Kosovo, Serbia is expecting "many difficult situations," Vučić had said the previous evening on a Serbian TV channel as justification. He wanted to specifically address people outside the parties.

In Vranje, the head of state reiterated that he would not recognize Kosovo's independence "neither de facto nor de jure." This contradicts the normalization plan that the EU proposed to the two countries last autumn.

This plan foresees, among other things, that Serbia will no longer block Kosovo's membership in international organizations such as the United Nations. In return, Pristina should allow Kosovo's ethnic Serb-majority communities to form an association.

The next EU mediation attempt in this regard is scheduled for March 18 in Ohrid, North Macedonia, at a meeting with Vučić and Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. This is recognized by almost all EU states. Kosovo and Serbia both aspire to join the EU.