Vučić’s memories of the negotiations in Brussels: Who ate the tuna and who ordered the pizza?

Even today, ten years after the signing of the Brussels Agreement, he insists that this and other agreements must be fulfilled and the Association of Serbian Municipalities be formed, the attitude and memory of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, regarding that first agreement on the principles of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Priština seems to vary.

When it suited him, his vivid retelling of the events of the months-long negotiations made him a hero among the public and the most deserving for reaching the necessary agreement, even though he did not sign it, but the then Prime Minister Ivica Dačić.

And when it doesn’t suit him, as was apparently the case in February at the session of the Serbian Parliament, then it is not difficult for him to remind the public of the signatory and even threaten the SPS coalition partners in the elections because they did not protect him enough.

He clarified his anger towards the socialists, saying that the Brussels agreement was mentioned negatively 190 times in the Parliament, and he was the culprit.

“It was never mentioned who signed the Brussels Agreement,” Vučić said, adding that it significantly damaged the relations between the SNS and the SPS.

When it comes to Vučić’s vivid memories of, as he said, the most difficult night in Brussels, which he returned to from time to time during these ten years in public appearances, a few months after the signing, he described the situation before the signing of the Brussels Agreement for the Zagreb Globus, which the local media immediately reported.

Vučić said that at one point, in Brussels, he slept on the floor.

As he said, the then Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, refused to continue talking with him after the verbal conflict they had and asked him to continue communication with Dacic.

“Previously Thaci and I had a very unpleasant conversation. I told Dacic: “Go there, that’s the job of the prime minister, but don’t accept it because it’s unacceptable for us,” Vučić said, as reported by the media.

He said that he was forced to lie down on the floor and sleep on his robe, since there were “no armchairs, no decent chairs, nothing” in the room.

“I knew that they would hold him for at least two hours, and that he could not accept anything, so I put my cloak on the floor and tired as I was, after 10-12 hours of negotiations, I lay down on it and slept for two full hours. I knew nothing bad could happen. And I really slept well”, said Vučić.

In addition to the lack of furniture, he complained about the modest meals served to the negotiators.

“They bring you some sandwiches, but who wants to eat them alive?” For those of us who come from the Balkans, the EU budget provides meager money, so these sandwiches are of the lowest quality. I said to these of ours: “Here’s your money, go and buy something good so that we all feel like people. And then they go and buy tuna and salmon and everything. I ate tuna. And Tači ordered a pizza from the pizzeria,” said Vučić.

Let us remind you that the Brussels Agreement was signed on April 19, 2013. It was signed by the then Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci, as well as the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton.

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