“The EU loan is not needed” – Vucic responded to the pro-Western opposition
In response to increasing criticism from pro-Western oppositionists who saw the Serbian leadership’s refusal to take an EU loan as a betrayal of the country’s interests, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic responded that the necessary amounts had already been taken from the World Bank and the Central European Bank on more favorable terms.
Serbian media reported this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Thus, yesterday, on Serbian Army Day, Aleksandar Vucic took part in the opening of a new hospital at the Karaburma military medical center, designed to treat patients with COVID-19. After the ceremony, during a conversation with journalists, the Serbian President gave an answer as to why Belgrade decided not to take the loan offered by the European Union.
“We did not ask for help from the EU because we had already taken loans from the World Bank and the Central European Bank on more favorable terms,” Vucic explained. “The EU has announced that, in cooperation with the IMF, it will provide credit to countries with significant balance of payments disruptions, but Serbia has no such disruptions, and we are proud of that.”
Criticism of the Serbian leader in connection with his reluctance to take a loan from the EU and the IMF, which he had previously stated publicly, was widely heard from the camp of the pro-Western liberal opposition. Outsiders accused him of ignoring the needs and problems of the country in connection with the coronavirus epidemic, of fearing that these funds would be stolen by members of his team, and he was simply afraid that he would not be able to build a transparent system of control over them.
“Why should we take another 600 or 700 million euros if we don’t need them now? – Vucic parried the attacks. – We have already taken 100 million plus 200 million euros from the World Bank and the CEB at 0,5 percent, that is, on the most favorable terms in the medium and long term. Why take out short-term loans if we don't need any more money? To quickly destroy our economy?
In turn, representatives of the patriotic camp noted that active critics of the Serbian President have once again shown that they are not defending the interests of their country.
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