President Aleksandar Vucic told media on Monday evening that representatives of the EU and the US told him that if Serbia does not accept the so-called Franco-German proposal for future relations with Kosovo, its European Union integration process will be halted and investments will be blocked.

Vucic said he was told that “you must accept this plan, and if you do not accept it … you will face, number one, the interruption of the European integration process; number two… the stoppage and withdrawal of investments; and number three, comprehensive measures in the political and economic sense that will cause great damage to the Republic of Serbia”.

In his speech on Monday evening, Vucic said that he could have responded by saying, “get out, we’re not going to talk about anything”. But he said that would have meant “there will be consequences”.