World War III may have already begun - Serbian President Vučić

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has said that World War III may have already begun, and it will be extremely difficult to prevent a global conflict.

"The struggle for oil, gas, minerals, rare metals and other raw materials has been going on for a long time. If you look at World War I and World War II, you will see that both began as regional conflicts. It was only later that larger military and political alliances were formed, which eventually clashed directly," he said in a interview with the Berliner Zeitung.

According to Vučić, escalation can probably still be avoided, but he sees no easy way to do so, as "the interests of the great powers are too diverse and significant for anyone to simply back down."

He also expressed the opinion that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East will almost inevitably lead to new conflicts. Iran's resistance to the United States, despite heavy losses, according to the Serbian president, "sends a signal to other states," showing that they too can stand up to states that "on paper seem much stronger."

Touching on the Ukrainian conflict, Vučić said that its end is "not in sight either." Russia, in his opinion, is unlikely to win this war, but it is also unlikely to lose it, as "a nuclear-armed state cannot be defeated militarily."

The Serbian president's statements came against the backdrop of his recent warnings about threats to Serbia itself.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on March 14, Vučić said that Croatia, Albania and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo were preparing an attack on his country. To substantiate this claim, he referred to the trilateral declaration on defense cooperation signed in Tirana in March 2025.

According to the Serbian president, Croatia, Albania and Kosovo are waiting for the escalation of the conflict between russia and Europe and the moment when a bigger war breaks out in the Middle East to strike.

Earlier, on March 7, while presenting the national development strategy, Vučić warned of the inevitability of new and more serious military conflicts in the world. In October 2025, he noted that "everyone is preparing for war, and the only question is who belongs to which side."

He also emphasized that Serbia maintains good relations with NATO, but maintains a policy of military neutrality.