It wasn't like this in Europe even before WW1, says Vucic

The Serbian president in this way commented on rigid Dutch and French stance regarding EU candidate countries opening new accession negotiation chapters in June, and Serbia's position and chances in that context.

"It's not like I'm prejudicing something, but it wasn't like this even before the First World War," Vucic remarked in conversation with journalists in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he is on an official visit.

However, Vucic insisted on his assessment that circumstances in Europe and globally are "very complicated and complex - there are many dangers surrounding us."

"In that situation, we are better off preserving peace and stability and working on developing our economy," he said.

In that sense, he added, Macedonia and Albania are in a fairly unenviable position - "I guess they'll commend them in June, so they don't say it's a proper catastrophe and that they got nothing, but I don't think they will be allowed to open any chapters."

Asked whether "the 2025 date is still valid for Serbia's membership," Vucic said that "nobody can say at this moment":

"You think they know, anyone in the EU. But, we first must do our job, the rule of law, various freedoms, finish that, an then the hardest obstacle still remains, normalization of relations with Pristina... so - does anyone know whether it will happen and how - one can only guess."

He added that "nobody knows under which conditions everything will happen" and that "there will be a new wave of refugees, certainly from Syria, perhaps two, three times bigger than the previous one."

Vucic also mentioned "great pressure on Turkey" because of which Erdogan decided to hold early elections, and added that he was "convinced Turkey and the...