Vučić and von der Leyen hold spontaneous meeting in New York

European Commission officials confirmed that a meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New York was spontaneous and unplanned. The brief encounter occurred on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.

While President Vučić shared a photo of the handshake on social media, noting he expressed gratitude for her support of Serbia, von der Leyen did not include the meeting in her official social media updates regarding her UN engagements.

In her upcoming annual tour of the Western Balkans, von der Leyen will not visit Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina. The European Commission officially cited ongoing election campaigns in those countries as the reason. However, unofficial reports suggest the decision was also influenced by the Serbian government's response to the death and state-honored funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić, an event that von der Leyen previously described as shocking.