60 quotes found
"Our generation has the huge responsibility. Of course, such responsibility is accompanied by great honour. We have been chosen, we have a mission. Such mission cannot bring any to us as persons, to our generation, since the time in which our generation acts is the time of asceticism and sacrifices. Only those who are ready do sacrifice their own wellbeing, may say that we belong to the generation which saved Serbia: we are the people who are bringing about the new politics."
"In November last year, windows and doors opened on that room of the political system in which we were imprisoned for seven or eight years. Some fresh air squeezed into it, through those windows. Serbia woke up from its winter dream, in the midst of winter. Our message to this Parliament is: do not allow yourselves to close those windows, let the fresh air remain common in Serbia, let us include all those who inhaled that fresh air of freedom for eighty eight days together with you, do not close the windows because thus we will shut the windows to Serbia and we will suffocate in such Serbia if its windows remain closed."
"In order to make the changes work, the majority of members of society that has entered changes must wake up every morning with a feeling of the great historical moment, with the feeling of something big and extraordinary."
"Thanks to the plan and clear vision, we managed to bring this people from dictatorship into democracy, without any bloodshed. Thanks to the plan and firm vision, we may show this country a way out form the biggest economic misery ever suffered by a European county, and into economic prosperity. But the vision is vital at all times. You should always ask yourself where you are heading to. Not only whether I am running fast, or spending energy, but whether I know which the goal I want to achieve is."
"I believe that to deal with politics means to take responsibilities and not sit in churches. My political line has been the same for the past thirty years: I advocate urban, civilized and European country in opposition to dictatorship. What makes me different from others is that in Serbia intellectuals are the spectators, making analyses, smoking and grumbling. What I wish is to change the world."
"You will not find a surgeon operating you quite likable. You find a doctor trying to convince you that you are in a great shape, that you do not need an operation that you will get better by drinking teas, much more amiable. I want people to respect my work, not to like me. My goal is to have the Serbian government evaluated for what it benefited for this country using existing chances and own efforts and potentials, rather than by its smooth talk, paying court to the people and talking about its good intentions."
"My motto that keeps me in motion is do not give up. If you start passing the vehicles, hit the gas. Do what you believe is right, and not what the majority would support. Do not take any defeat personally. Never let the politics drive you crazy."
"The secret of success lies in investing into education, as the wealthy countries do. This means not in technology and machines first. That would come later, with educated and qualified individuals. Considering that we are lagging behind reforms, the only way to make up for such gap is to have a non-linear development by making leaps, all of which would be have an education as a base. Education, training, knowledge, are the major driving forces of progress."
"No more sleep. You cannot be world champions by sleeping. Sleep five, six hours, you do not need more. You will sleep when you are retired. Retired persons are allowed to sleep. If you are not retired, do not. That is also good for your figure. No Saturdays, Sundays, holidays. If you want to achieve a big goal, there is no room for celebrations – as we know, there are 170 celebrations of Saint Patron’s day in Serbia. We will be celebrating when we win. We cannot win if instead of training we celebrate."
"We are still in the position of those who cut the forest and planted some seedlings, and now are surprised that there is no shade. Do I worry that there is no shade? I do. Am I working on making the trees grow? I am, but it cannot grow in one year."
"I am at the work at which I am interested in Indians and not the Chiefs. I need people to do the job. I may accept someone if he/she is the right wing o left wing, a monarchist or republican because in this phase the grounds are being set, rather than painting the front. This is not about aesthetics. It is irrelevant whether someone is inclined a little on this side or on that side; if one is professional, honest, hard-working, and if one is capable of accomplishing certain job – that person is valuable to me."
"If anyone believes that the enforcement of laws will be stopped if I am done away with, that they are more than wrong, because I am not the system. The system will keep on functioning and no one will get amnesty by getting one or two state officials out of the way."
"The difference between ethics and morality is quite essential. What is beneficial for one people is the ethics. Morality is the matter of intention, when I say I believe something is good and I will do it because my motivation is right. The fact that in the end it will be a disaster, is not my fault, I did it for good reasons. I despise that. I think that it is the excuse of the weaker. I am not interested in intentions. I am interested in consequences. Any one can have good intentions, which I believe is the matter of decency. I do not discuss others’ intentions. I assume that anyone has good intentions. But it is so trivial, that I am not interested in it. I am interested in what comes next. If I will not benefit from the outcome, I am not interested in good intentions."
"Come and bomb us, kill one Serb and we will kill 100 Muslims."
"I didn’t really have a lot of achievements, and what I am proud of today is hard work. I am proud of never having been lazy. As far as results are concerned, I can tell you that the fight against corruption and the economic reforms are what I am most proud of now, but looking back at that period – it is most certain that I have never been lazy and have never acted against my country."
"We can destroy all their party premises throughout Serbia. All of them."
"Milosevic was a great Serbian leader whose intentions were certainly for the best"
"Extremist ideas are something that will kill us all in the Balkans, something that will ruin our still very fragile democratic societies."
"And we have no limits, no restrictions on any of the social networks, unlike many Western European countries. We have 78 to 79 percent of our population using social networks. People just have their phones. And they have all different news in their phones."
"Serbs are very much attracted by the Western living standards, the standards of people. That’s why they like Germans. Because they bring their factories, they bring their plants to this country. They respect them very much. And the way of living is something that is preferable in the West than in the East, no doubt."
"It is very difficult to tackle people’s sentiments and people’s emotions. But this is our job to do it, to do everything in a very rational and realistic way."
"The Russians have their interests and we have ours. The Russians don't make us any gifts, but they have given us a good price."
"What I'm wondering is this: Why did the West open a Pandora's box in 2008 by recognizing Kosovo?"
"See, you say that Serbia will recognise the independence of Kosovo to get Republika Srpska in return. That's not going to happen. None of that is real nor good nor we need it, and this is all I can say about it. I refuse to speak about something that does not exist. We don't need the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina."
"We believe it is in the best interest of (Kosovo) Albanians and the international community ... to talk about a free flow of capital, people and services."
"Every time since 2014, when I first became the Prime Minister, we have had protests after every election. That is probably due to the influence of the social networks in which those people hide in closed-off political circles, ones in which they do not notice anyone else, where they love to listen to only what they want to hear and see. At the same time, that group of people, who held those protests, has continued to live in an echo chamber and, due to their false projections, were never able to recognize where the majority was. This political minority never understood what people in Serbia wanted, as it was easier for them to believe that they were the majority just because they surround themselves with those who think in the same way they do."
"If you live in a small country which is geographically at the crossroads, then your policy should be maintain peace and stability, either by not having arguments with anyone, which is impossible, or having arguments with everyone equally."
"Serbia is on its European path, but Serbia has to live, and has friends in the U.S. but it also has friends and it is not ashamed of them in Moscow and in Beijing."
"Sometimes we have to protect our military neutrality by being all alone."
"The most important thing is that we show determination to continue the dialogue and that we will always try to solve everything by talking. I want to believe that it is possible."
"We ask for a clear answer to the question I've been asking my interlocutors, leaders of many countries for years - what is the difference between the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, which was grossly violated, and for which you provided international recognition and legitimacy, at least some of you? Nobody has ever provided a rational answer to that question."
"We don't have children to throw away, we have to protect Serbia. If only we hadn't participated in all the wars of the 20th century, we would be bigger than the Netherlands. We have to try to preserve peace, but not give away what is ours."
"Serbia has not and will not export weapons to Ukraine."
"Serbia is changing and changing fast, and if you will, I am part of that change, but I do not want to be branded ‘Serbia’s gay PM’. The message we need to send is about competence, professionalism and trustworthiness."
"The reason why I am not focused on that now is because I deeply, truly believe Serbia will be a more tolerant society once people have jobs, better paid jobs, don’t have to care about their own livelihood, or the future of their own children, and do not have to worry about two or three generations living in the same flat."
"The citizens of Serbia have a right not to be portrayed by a loud minority. We can have a culture where we disagree, as long as there is tolerance and no violence. We all have different views and values, but I don’t want to change people’s thinking by law."
"If we do not have rule of law and effective and transparent judiciary, everything else will start crumbling down."
"When people feel that they are empowered… then they can do whatever they want to do. It’s their country to change."
"It is important to launch core reforms in education and healthcare and boost production primarily through developing agriculture and IT sector. We see the latter as a potentially key sector for future development because there is a real need today for several thousand programmers."
"Serbia is thinking about its economic interests, its role in political frameworks, it is thinking about the best interest of its citizens. Our strategic path is the EU, but we have traditional ties with the Russian people and economic ties, because Russia is a big market."
"We are living in exciting times of the fourth industrial revolution, which is giving opportunities to countries like Serbia, who were not winners of the third industrial revolution but can become winners of the fourth. In the fourth industrial revolution we are all given a chance to restart from scratch and rebuild our nation. I thought this was a fantastic opportunity for Serbia. Digitalisation along with education reform to prepare our youth for the jobs of the future were the cornerstones of my government."
"It is important that we agree about the priorities and reach a social understanding on what we can and must jointly achieve in order to take Serbia among theranks of successful states. The time before us will show how courageous as society and individuals we are to jointly push boundaries and step into the future for the sake of all of us. And I believe in the citizens of Serbia."
"Digitalisation opens up new possibilities for a better quality of life of the citizens through a greater number of services, for services that are cheaper, for providing more accessible information and knowledge, for people to inter-connect. Although it is often connected with technology, digitalisation is much more than that, because it provides opportunities for new and better-paid jobs. Digitalisation may increase our export and, even more importantly, it is our chance to stop the brain drain and even reverse the trend."
"The role of the state should be to stimulate and allow an open, dynamic economy, to develop infrastructure, to provide as best quality and cost-effective services as possible, to eliminate administrative barriers, to encourage, support, and legally protect every entrepreneurial initiative, with accountable and well-structured social policy in line with economic possibilities."
"My mission is to modernise our society in all its segments. By working on digitalisation, we will create society that provides equal opportunities to all of its citizens. This Government has a good basis that has been laid by the previous one and I am going to lead it in such a way as to retain the focus on the set goals, with digitalisation and education listed as my top priorities."
"I am aware that these are the challenges before which many would back away, but we have to set big goals and to work diligently and with dedication in order to make such a step forward because of all of us and the generations to come. We are responsible towards them,just as our ancestors were responsible towards us. Dedication, decisiveness, openness andcourage are the values on which my work will be based and I invite you all to join me so that we could leave the remnants of the past where they belong – in the past. I am looking into the future because now is the moment when we can do the right things, with no delay, nowaiting and no excuses."
"Serbia now has a chance that will not repeat for a long time, to make use of the major changes brought about by digitalisation and to completely reverse its economic destiny within a short time. The new potentials before us do not depend on anyone and anything else, but only on ourselves and our readiness to win in the big international competition. We are entering a dynamic process of digitalisation, modernisation, integrative education and work, the period of rapid growth, new opportunities, a significantly higher standard ofliving and an overall better life of all the citizens of Serbia."
"A final and long-lasting solution to the Kosovo issue, cannot be achieved without an agreement with Serbia, especially in regard to the UN. For this reason it is very important for the dialogue to continue. Up until now we have not had any requirements of recognition of Kosovo in return for our membership."
"Following Tito’s death came the break-up of Yugoslavia, as he had been integral to its unity. Today Serbia is the successor to Yugoslavia, but we have lost a lot of time, the deaths of so many people since then. Some, primarily Western countries, weren’t satisfied even then, and pushed for the declaration of Kosovo, a province of Serbia as an independent country. As a result, Serbia has been compelled to focus on its domestic problems, not its foreign policy."
"Stability is of huge significance to the future of our region. And I have to express great pleasure, and it is a huge potential and advantage that Serbia has, and that is that in Serbia there is political stability. On our part we will do everything to make a contribution to regional stability."
"There is no doubt that we have a different vision of the past. What’s important is that I see no reasons for any kind of conflicts in the future. We have no interests that could be contradictory in the future."
"We strongly condemn all attempts to rewrite history, reduce the number of victims and minimize contribution to the defeat of Nazism and fascism, as well as attempts to rehabilitate those ideologists."
"Our faith in a better and peaceful tomorrow should be based on realistic evaluation of our strength and the respect of objective conditions in which we are to resolve difficult national and state problems and build a legal and social state. We have all the reasons to give up the demagogic optimism based on the “no alternative” policy. We must overcome this national and social apathy within our social consciousness; we must regain the people’s trust in a strong and respected Serbia. Our life is indeed hard, we are lagging behind greatly, but we are a people with the strength for a true rebirth."
"Political actors in Serbia are mostly concerned with the past, with an emphasis on an ideological valorisation of certain events, procedures and personalities, but the main consequences of this are divisions among us."
"During my term of office I wish to build an integral vision of Serbia’s future, together with citizens and their communities, organisations and institutions and the academic community, as well as to make a decisive first step towards that future. This government of the Republic of Serbia shall be a government of future, and not the one looking back into the past."
"What shall we do with the Serbs who are showing where Albanians are buried all over Serbia?"
"So why should anyone talk about my political past? Policy making and the results are what count. If there is anyone who has something to say about that - well, by all means. But the Ministry of the Interior, under my leadership, was the most successful ministry of the Serbian government, according to our citizens. And that's the only thing that counts."
"I think this kind of agenda is not appropriate and usual. It is better to talk about the problems first, and then see if we should talk about the people, if we need to talk abou that too."
"After the 8th session, Serbia very quickly went far, far, into two of its tragic restorations: into Stalinist socialism and crazed nationalism."
"I warned them that the war was ahead of us, that it was prepared, and that they would save the honour of their people by deserting that war. But what I said then was not heard because of cannons."