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Swiss "Weltwoche": Magnificent victory of Vučić and SNS

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The Swiss "Weltwoche" writes about the historic victory of the "Aleksandar Vučić - Serbia must not stop" list.

Source: Kosovo online Thursday, December 21, 2023 | 10:15

Foto: Profimedia

"Weltwoche" states that this victory was not based on fraud, as portrayed by the opposition and the Western media.

Located between the East and the West, Serbia is rapidly catching up, while, above all, the technological and social progress is astonishing, assesses the Swiss weekly "Weltwoche", noting that the magnificent victory of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with 47 percent of the vote it is not based on lies and fraud, as portrayed by the opposition and many Western media.

Hardly anyone outside of Serbia states that the population's satisfaction with the ruling policy is high, the paper adds.

And there are many good reasons for that. Serbia has seven million inhabitants on an area that is more than twice the size of Switzerland. However, the population development trend is still negative; in particular, the emigration of numerous highly qualified experts continues to create problems in the country. The state opposes this negative trend with significantly more money for families, as well as child allowances. President Vučić has set himself the permanent task of technologically and economically catching up with the West.

On the one hand, Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić are looking for more relaxed relations with the European Union and are positioning Serbia as a candidate for membership. On the other hand, the relationship with Russia is historically, culturally and religiously so close that this traditional pan-Slavism should not be threatened under any circumstances.

However, Serbia is militarily neutral and incorporates the experiences of other neutral countries such as Switzerland and Austria into its strategies. The country defends the principles of international law and consistently advocates for the integrity of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and all other countries in the world, "Weltwoche" writes.

Expansion of the transport network

The Serbian economy cannot and does not want to do without deliveries of Russian gas and oil and therefore does not support EU sanctions packages. The NATO military pact has been extremely unpopular among the Serbian population since the supposed defense alliance bombed Serbian cities and facilities in 1999, in violation of international law and without a UN mandate. And of course, no Serbian government can allow itself to acknowledge the so-called Kosovo leaves its Serbs in the lurch, who have become a minority in just a few decades, or leaves numerous local Orthodox shrines to the imminent destruction by Muslims.

Serbia's progress is astounding in various areas. Since the Serbian Progressive Party took over the state helm in 2013, 445 kilometers of highways have been built, so the highway network is already 997 kilometers long. These extensive road constructions significantly stimulate economic development. Particularly important are the north-south connections A1 and A2, but also the west-east connections A3, A4 and A5. Last week, the construction of two important road links in the north of the country began. It is about 105 kilometers of the Belgrade-Zrenjanin-Novi Sad highway and another significant expressway of 186 kilometers.

Currently, about 460 kilometers of highways, regional and local roads are being built or modernized, so work is being done on about 700 kilometers for the benefit of private transport.

The modernization and expansion of the railway network of several hundred kilometers is just as remarkable as the prestigious Pan-European Railway Corridor 10 project, which is progressing rapidly. The railway corridor 7/Danube is also of great importance. As far as significant expenditures for regional transport are concerned, Serbia has purchased train sets worth about 200 million francs from the Swiss company Stadler Rail. Relatively huge investments in transport infrastructure provide employment for the population.

Extraordinary progress has also been achieved in the field of social protection. Both pensions and average and minimum wages have increased significantly in recent years. While pensions before Vučić's government were 202 euros, they are currently 390 euros. In the same period of time, average monthly wages increased from 329 to 820 euros. In contrast, unemployment has fallen from 26 percent in 2012 to the current 9 percent.

While the national debt in 2001 was over 100 percent of the gross domestic product, today it is only 51.4 percent. The Serbian health system was significantly expanded and strengthened: 147 new hospitals and health institutions were built during the era of Aleksandar Vučić.

When it comes to science, the focus is on life science, digitization and artificial intelligence. Two of the four science and technology parks in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Čačak were established as part of development cooperation with Switzerland, which supported them financially. Two more parks follow in Kragujevac and Kruševac. "BioEconomy hub Bio4Campus", which will be dedicated to the fields of biomedicine, biotechnology, bioinformatics and biodiversity, should be completed in 2027.

About 1,200 lecturers and 4,000 students will teach, study and research there. The Government of Serbia has already signed long-term contracts with various corporations and companies, such as Roche, Swissrockets, AstraZeneca, but also with partners such as South Korea and China, which will move into Bio4Campus. As for information and communication technologies, the focus is on the development and application of artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Digitization has made great progress in Serbia.

For example, the Serbian healthcare system - unlike the Swiss one - is completely digitized. Serbia is already an important center for artificial intelligence research. The country was the first in the Southeast European region to develop and adopt an artificial intelligence strategy until 2025. Thus, the first level 3 license for autonomous driving in the presence of the driver has already been issued. For Expo Belgrade 2027, autonomous vehicles without drivers are planned in order to ensure the transportation of people at the exhibition area, as well as other logistical tasks, according to "Weltwoche".

The conditions for artificial intelligence research have already been created and the foundations have been laid, for example in the state-of-the-art State Data Center in Kragujevac or the World Economic Forum Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Belgrade. In Kragujevac, the competent ministers of Serbia have just signed a memorandum of understanding with the head of the CERN IT department in Geneva, Enrico Maria Porcari, on the introduction and implementation of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) computer network. After the USA and Great Britain, Switzerland is the third most important export market for Serbian services in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT).

During the last five years, direct foreign investments in Serbia amounted to between 3.8 and 4.4 billion euros per year, and thus more than in any other Balkan country. Switzerland is one of the five most important foreign investors in Serbia. There are almost 600 Swiss companies that employ around 12,000 people. Companies such as Nestle, Barry Callebaut, Sika and Regent Lighting are particularly important. For years, Serbia has been relying on the successful Swiss model of dual education with vocational training and an accompanying vocational school, which is especially supported by ETH professor and education expert Ursula Renold.

Hardworking bridge builders

Membership in the EU is and remains Serbia's strategic foreign policy goal, with the state insisting on the simultaneous preservation of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Serbia still considers Kosovo and Metohija part of its national territory. In recent years, at least 28 countries have withdrawn their recognition of Kosovo as an independent country, and there have been no new recognitions. In a foolhardy strategy, Switzerland recognized Kosovo as an independent state in 2008 under the leadership of then-Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and established diplomatic relations. This was done in complete disregard of the tried and tested Swiss tradition of recognition which requires its own national people, clearly demarcated national territory and consolidated state power.

That this state power does not exist in Kosovo is also evidenced by the fact that since 1999 members of the Swiss army have had to ensure peace and order there as part of "Swisscoy". The federal government and parliament also recently decided to extend the participation of the Swiss army in the international military mission in Kosovo (KFOR) until the end of 2026. What's more: the Swiss authorities want to increase the maximum number of 195 people by another 30 soldiers. Serbia, meanwhile, promotes cooperation with the USA and the EU as its most important trade partners and investors, but also maintains good economic relations with China, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Officially, slightly less than 60,000 citizens of Serbia live in Switzerland. The number of Orthodox Serbs - together with a large number of persons who have taken Swiss citizenship - is estimated at around 150,000 people. All of them are, or were, valued as a very capable workforce and represent bridge builders in the service of strengthening cooperation between Switzerland and Serbia, the paper concludes.