Vucic at UN: Thanks 107 Nations, Defends Resolution 1244

Aleksandar Vucic took the podium at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday evening, September 23, during the General Debate of the 81st session. He spoke around 4 p.m. local time, roughly 10 p.m. in Serbia, as the fifth speaker of the afternoon session, following the presidents of Poland, Namibia, Slovakia and Kenya. In his address, he thanked, one by one, each of the 107 countries that have not recognized Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence.

Serbia will defend its country, its territorial integrity, the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Vucic said from the podium, a line he returned to more than once during his remarks. Srpske Novine had reported ahead of time that Vucic would address the Assembly on Wednesday evening, and that is the speech he delivered.

Most of his address was built around the claim that the order established by the UN Charter has been undermined precisely by the countries now invoking it. He criticized states that recognized Kosovo’s independence, arguing that in doing so, without any grounding in international legal documents, they tried to seize 14 percent of Serbia’s territory.

And when they raise their voice, thinking they are so moral and that their views are the only correct ones, we simply smile and ask: how did you treat Kosovo and Metohija and Serbia’s territorial integrity, guaranteed by the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 1244?

Vucic asked, addressing countries that, in his words, are quick to lecture others on respecting territorial integrity while having recognized Kosovo themselves.

What Does Vucic Claim About the Brussels Agreement and the Community of Serb Municipalities?

The president repeated that Serbia has fulfilled all of its obligations under the Brussels Agreement, while Pristina still has not formed the Community of Serb Municipalities. That obligation, he said, was also confirmed by the European Union’s signature, yet that guarantee counted for nothing. Sources differ on when the agreement was actually signed: KoSSev cites April 19, 2013, while republika.rs, reporting on the speech, states that it was signed in 2012. Vucic added that as president he has spent ten years under pressure and facing attempts to talk him out of fully implementing what was signed, and he warned countries of the Global South to read carefully any agreements they sign with major powers.

When we ask them, do you also tell Ukraine that the territories it is fighting for don’t matter, we end the pointless conversation and move on to another topic.

Vucic said, describing what he called the double standards of those who deny Serbia the same right to territorial integrity they champion for Ukraine.

The president also recalled the 1999 bombing of Serbia, claiming the decision to attack was made by 19 NATO countries and that no Serbian soldier ever crossed into the territory of another state. The order established by the UN Charter, he concluded, no longer exists.

The order of respect for the UN Charter, and the law based on it, no longer exists.

Vucic said, adding that those who were the first to break it have no moral standing to speak about it now.

In the part of his speech devoted to European integration, Vucic recalled that Serbia was granted EU candidate status in 2012 and opened accession negotiations in 2014, and he proposed that the Western Balkans gradually join the single market and the Schengen area even before achieving full membership. He also noted that Serbia chaired the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence in 2025, whose Belgrade Ministerial Declaration was backed by 44 member states and the European Union. He advocated for reform of the UN Security Council, with more seats for developing countries, particularly in Africa, and an additional seat for the Eastern European group. He said Serbia supports the actions of Donald Trump’s administration, and expressed hope that Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping would prove productive.

This morning, September 24, Petar Petkovic, director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, followed up on the speech, saying the president had defended Serbia’s state and national interests the night before.

Serbia is home to a small but proud nation, one that deserves exactly this kind of leader.

Petkovic wrote in a statement, adding that Vucic had explained how the systematic dismantling of the UN system began over Serbian skies.

The New York speech came two days after Vucic’s meeting with EU High Representative Kaja Kallas on September 22, at which, according to the president, he pressed for implementation of the Brussels Agreement and the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities. That obligation, undertaken more than 13 years ago, still has not been met, leaving it an open question whether the UN speech and the meeting with Kallas will move the issue forward.