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Serbian president honored to receive Order of Alexander Nevsky

Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said he considered it a special honor to receive the Order of Alexander Nevsky personally from Russian President Vladimir Putin

Serbian President Aleksander Vucic Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Serbian President Aleksander Vucic

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

BELGRADE, January 16. / TASS /. Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said he considered it a special honor to receive the Order of Alexander Nevsky personally from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vucic made this statement in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director General, Mikhail Gusman, on the eve of the Russian leader’s visit to Belgrade on Thursday.

"It is a great honor for me and Serbia to receive the Order of Alexander Nevsky. President Putin bolstered Russia’s status in the world, therefore it is a distinct privilege to get this award from him," the Serbian leader stated.

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Vucic added that two other awards that are of great significance to him hang on the wall in his office. These are the Order of the Republic of Serbia and an honorable doctorate degree granted by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). "Now the Order of Alexander Nevsky will be in the forefront. My father wept when he found out that President Putin had decided to bestow me with these honors, I can only imagine what will happen during the award ceremony… I would like someone to record this moment, to see how much this means for my family, especially for the relatives on my father’s side," President Vucic emphasized.

According to Vucic’s Presidency Secretary, Nikola Selakovic, the incumbent Serbian leader is the first Serb after Prime Minister Nikola Pasic to be presented with the Russian order in the last 105 years.

Earlier, the Kremlin press office announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree awarding his Serbian counterpart with the Order of Alexander Nevsky for his contribution to the development of multilateral cooperation with the Russian Federation.

The Russian leader is expected to visit Belgrade on January 17. The Serbian press previously reported that the leaders plan to sign 20 different agreements. They will also focus on the implementation of joint projects in the field of energy, infrastructure and innovative technologies.

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