President Aleksandar Vucic was sworn in on Tuesday for a second term as Serbia’s head of state, pledging to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity including Kosovo.

“I swear to devote all my powers to protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia, including Kosovo and Metohija (the official name of what, under the constitution, is Serbia’s southern province) as its integral part, as well as achieving human and minority rights and liberties, respect and defense of the Constitution and laws, preserving peace and the well-being of all citizens of the Republic of Serbia and to conscientiously and responsibly fulfill all my duties. So help me God,” Vucic said at a special session of parliament, winning ovations from MPs and guests.

The special session of parliament was attended by former President Tomislav Nikolic (founder of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party – SNS), the Serbian member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Milorad Dodik, Republika Srpska President Zeljka Cvijanovic, members of the diplomatic corps and senior Christian and Muslim clergy.

Vucic won a second term in office at the April 3 elections, winning 59 percent of the vote to beat his main rival retired General Zdravko Ponos.

He was sworn in for his first term on May 31, 2017 and was the first president of Serbia to swear his oath on the constitution and the Miroslav Gospel, an illuminated Cyrillic manuscript considered to be one of the oldest surviving documents in Serbian Church Slavonic.

Under Serbian law, the president can only serve two terms in office and cannot hold any other professional position while in office.