Contemporary relations between Russia and Serbia are developing, which is an important contribution to stabilizing the situation in the entire Balkan Peninsula, said the Vice-Rector of the Diplomatic Academy in Belgrade, at the conference “Russia and Serbia: Historical and Diplomatic Heritage” in the Russia House.
According to him, the Balkans, due to their specific geographical location – between the Middle East and Europe – are subject to various threats, like the spread of the terrorism and the expansion of the EU and NATO. These questions concern Russian security.
“It is important that the integration processes in the Balkans do not lead to new delineations, and, of course, that the Balkan countries do not face an artificial choice: whether they are for the EU or for Russia, which we have already seen. We are against the expansion of NATO in the Balkans. We would not like to aggravate relations with NATO, but we cannot close our eyes to their ambitions,” Ivanov emphasizes.