In his speech at the United Nations, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said “The situation in the world seems even more difficult and dark than a year ago.”

At the beginning of his address, the Serbian president quoted Mahatma Gandhi.

“He said there is no path to peace, peace is the path. In the same spirit of fraternal love and open heart, I address you today on behalf of the Republic of Serbia, a founding country of the United Nations, a country of freedom and justice. Despite the current global challenges, it consistently perseveres in defending the principles of the UN Charter and international law,” said Vucic.

He said that “when we talk about the current moment, the situation in the world seems even more difficult and dark than a year ago.”

“The tensions are growing, and challenges are becoming more numerous and complex. Despite our declaratory efforts for peace, there is no end in sight to this geopolitical nightmare. Today, mankind relies more on technology than it relies on mankind. This year we are once against talking about tragic conflicts and destruction that bring suffering and enormous human losses. The Republic of Serbia and the Serbian people deeply sympathize and share their grief for all the lives lost in the conflicts happening around the world, including the tragic events in the Middle East and Ukraine. It is unforgivable that today, in the 21st century, we are talking about gruesome figures related to children who have died in conflicts,” Vucic said.

He added that the world is “on the verge of nuclear disaster and nuclear holocaust.”

“We live in a world where no one listens to anyone, we need to talk even when we disagree. We need to stop the practice of double standards, to restore faith in international law, and we must restore faith in peace, the only path that has no alternative. We owe that to every innocent victim anywhere in the world,” said the Serbian president.

He reiterated Serbia’s support for Ukraine but also reminded of Resolution 1244.

Vucic presented a document stating that “except for the forces under the control of the United Nations, which at this moment are KFOR NATO forces, no one can have armed forces in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.” (Kosovo and Metohija is the official name for what the Serbian authorities consider to be the country’s southern province)

“Those who committed the aggression against Serbia, who tried to separate a part of its territory, are still trying. Now I am asking you, dear friends, dear representatives, you, freedom-loving nations and countries, what we as a small country can do, because everybody in the world speaks about Ukraine, but no one dares to speak about Serbia. We are neither servants of Russia nor of the United States of America, we have our own politics and our own interests,” he said.

Vucic said that, because of fanaticism, there is no justice for Serbs in Kosovo and the daily lives of Serbs and other non-Albanians are endangered. “Can the intrusion of the so-called Kosovo police on the ninth of September into the premises of the Support Me association, made up of parents and children with developmental disabilities, be described as anything other than brutality, cruelty and insanity,” he said.

“How can there be peace in Kosovo if the legal order and fundamental rights of an entire nation are being systematically undermined,” Vucic asked.

“Serbia is a small country, which cannot compete with the big powers, but we are obliged to ourselves and to our people. Since all the big ones are neither interested in law nor in the truth, there is nothing left for small but proud Serbia but to be dedicated and committed to its economic progress, to look towards the future and to wait for the moment when the principles of international law observance will be brought back to the world’s political stage. We will remain committed to the dialogue with Pristina under the auspices of the EU, and we will fight to preserve peace. There is only one thing that we will never give to anyone, and that is the freedom and independence of Serbia,” said the Serbian president.