President Aleksandar Vucic has warned of food and energy shortages due to anti-Russia sanctions
\nThe US, EU and China\u00a0face\u00a0serious economic struggles in 2023, which is shaping up to be more difficult than the previous year, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned on Wednesday. Belgrade is trying to stock up on basic food supplies, as the world is likely to face shortages soon, he added.
\n\u201cI expect 2023 to be much more difficult than 2022,\u201d\u00a0Vucic told reporters in Belgrade. The US federal reserve has raised interest rates,\u00a0\u201cChina\u2019s growth rate has slowed, the EU is approaching a recession,\u201d\u00a0he added.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re a part of that chain, so that will impact us as well.\u201d
\nSerbia has taken precautions to stock up on natural gas and coal, and should have some left over by the spring, Vucic said, but he is working with Hungary to\u00a0\u201csecure supplies right away for the next winter, which will be worse.\u201d
\nHis government has also secured 20 months worth of wheat, Vucic said, stressing the importance of food security.\u00a0\u201cWe have to stock up, there will be less and less food around the world,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cWe have to have salt, sugar, wheat and corn. For the immediate future, we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vucic has previously warned of the coming hardships due to the conflict in Ukraine.\u00a0\u201cThis will last for a long while, and I expect the next winter and even the one beyond to be far worse than this one,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said\u00a0in November.
\nOn Wednesday, Vucic also answered questions about the ongoing tensions with the ethnic Albanian government in the breakaway province of Kosovo and military expenditures, but returned to economic matters time and again.
\nSerbia has the second-lowest energy prices in Europe, the president said, without specifying which country was in the lead. He also said that 2022 GDP growth was almost 2.5% and unemployment was the lowest ever at 8.9%. All of this was achieved without joining the EU embargo against Russia, despite the pressure from Brussels.
\n\u201cThey say I must sanction Russia. Well, thanks a lot for interfering in our internal affairs like that,\u201d\u00a0Vucic said, sarcastically.
\nAddressing the claim by a German newspaper that only a firm EU could\u00a0\u201ctame\u201d\u00a0him, and that only such a\u00a0\u201ctame\u201d\u00a0Serbia could join the bloc, Vucic told reporters a family anecdote.<\/p>\n