Vuk Jeremić (Serbia)
Statement
An independent candidate and former diplomat who served as Serbia's Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2007 and 2012, Cambridge-educated Jeremić was the President of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly between September 2012 and September 2013 and unsuccessfully ran for United Nations Secretary-General in 2016 (see https://goodcountry.org/global...).
He launched his campaign by reaching out to the now estranged voters of his ex-party Demokratska stranka, as well as other parties, particularly those on the right of the Serbian political spectrum. Jeremić fought against independence for Kosovo during his tenure as Minister, and is seen as something of a nationalist. Even the ex-President of his previous party (and President of Serbia until 2012) Boris Tadić spoke against him, but later decided to support his previous pupil from Belgrade high school.
The pro-government media has labelled Jeremić as "Russia’s man", but also as "NATO Vuk", yet he is adamant that he is against Serbia joining NATO and argues that Serbia should remain neutral.
He once famously said that Russia has historically been the greatest ally of Serbia, but now argues only that Serbia should have the best possible relations with Moscow. He maintains that Kosovo independence is illegal and that the disputed region is still a part of Serbia. He was quoted numerous times during this campaign as claiming that Vučić is “selling” Kosovo in order to gain the trust of the West.
