Maintaining peace and stability in the region is a priority this year, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, adding that the unity among Serb representatives in the region has for decades not been as strong as it is now.

Vucic made the statement after meeting with Serb representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and Macedonia, saying that he will be discussing the position of Serbs in the region with them at a joint breakfast meeting on Monday, Orthodox Christmas day.

“The characteristic of our meeting is that everyone clearly pointed out that peace and maintaining stability in the region is the priority. The policy we are all implementing is a policy of cooperation with everyone, good relations with other ethnic groups, a policy with which we will not endanger the states and national interests of others, but also a policy that will protect our own national and state interests,” he said.

Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have “a close relationship,” he said, adding that his country has good trade relations with all regional countries.

“Serbia has a surplus in trade relations,” Vucic said. “This means that this is the region where we can sell our goods in the best and most successful way and that’s why having good relations with them is especially important.”

He also said that a difficult political year is ahead for the Serb people, but that it also will be successful in terms of economy.

Serbia’s Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Milorad Dodik, the President of Bosnia’s Serb-majority region, Zeljka Cvijanovic, the head of the Serb National Council in Croatia, Milorad Pupovac, the leader of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, MP Ivan Stoilkovic, the leader of the New Serb Democracy in Montenegro, Andrija Mandic, and the leader of the Democratic People’s Party there, Milan Knezevic, attended the meeting with Vucic.