Stefanović

Serbian Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic on Tuesday denied having committed "any criminal act and especially I am not someone who is a conspirator against President [Aleksandar] Vucic" after a former colleague accused him of gaining access to transcripts of covertly recorded phone calls involving Vucic.

Officials from Serbia's ruling Serbian Progressive Party on Monday called for an investigation into Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic after a former Interior Ministry official, Dijana Hrkalovic, who is currently on trial for alleged influence-peddling, accused him of gaining access to transcripts of covertly-recorded phonecalls involving President Aleksandar Vucic.

Serbia and Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity, Repubika Srpska, on Monday celerbrated Victory Day, the day when Russia marks its victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 with huge parades in Moscow.

At a time when support for Russia is controversial in Europe, EU candidate Serbia sent messages of support to the EU as well as Russia.

Serbia and Turkey are looking to improve defense industry ties, defense and diplomatic officials from both countries said on Nov. 25. 

A meeting in the capital Belgrade between Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic and Turkish Ambassador Tanju Bilgiç stressed the need for more cooperation in the field of equipment and modernization, said a Serbian Defense Ministry statement.

He said seven new coronavirus deaths have been recorded in the last 24 hours, with 115 newly infected.
Stevanovic said the days ahead might be tougher, so he finished a news conference and announced that he was going to a clinic to help his colleagues.

He explained to TV Prva that a large number of vehicles were at the border yesterday, but that no one entered Serbia during the traffic ban, which was pronounced from 08.00 pm to 05.00 am.

According to him, this is in order to protect the Serbian people in that country and to calm tensions.
Stefanovic told RTS, after Vucic held an emergency meeting with security officials last night due to the deterioration of the situation in the region, there was work to be done to restore peace and reduce tensions.

Stefanovic added that if Vucic retires from politics, he will do the same.
"If he retires, I would not hold any public or party position either", Stefanovic said in a New Year's interview with Novosti.

While Serbian officials continue to downplay the role of the Interior Minister's father in the arms trade, documents obtained by BIRN reveal his high-level activities in this field.

They show that Branko Stefanovic, father of Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, traveled in May to the "Bereta" arms factory in Italy as part of a Serbian Interior Ministry delegation, for example.

The Kremlin said on Thursday it was confident nothing could hurt Russia's "special partnership" with Serbia after a video surfaced appearing to show a Russian diplomat giving money to an unidentified Serbian official.