Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has rejected claims by Brussels demanding that Serbia, as a candidate for EU membership, should follow the EU foreign policy and put four Russian officials on the list because of the arrest of blogger Alexei Navalny
According to Novosti, it is expected that Vucic’s refusal will now serve as a good excuse for Western countries to continue their policy of pressure on Belgrade and the Serbian president personally, as hinted at in the recently adopted European Parliament report on Serbia.
It should be reminded that neighbouring Montenegro, northern Macedonia, Albania – which, like Serbia, has candidate status – as well as Ukraine, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have joined Brussels’ sanctions, with the EU welcoming them saying that these countries will ensure their national policies comply with the Council decisions.
At the same time, political analyst Dragomir Andjelkovic said that for Serbia to join the sanctions would be a betrayal, because it would no longer have an ally country defending the accession of the Kosovo rebel province to the UN, and that such a move would be aimed against Serbia itself.
“Western countries understand that we have a Kosovo problem which other countries in the region do not have, and that we will not impose sanctions against Moscow. We need Russia’s support to protect our territorial integrity”, – Andjelkovic said, noting the West’s constant pressure on Serbia on the issue of relations with Russia.