New Ukrainian ambassador: Serbia shares our sorrow

Photo: Tanjug/Rade Prelic

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Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Tolkach has said that the most important thing for Ukraine is to stop the war and that it expects the support from partners in both Serbia and Ukraine.

He said that it was important for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people that he heard from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, with whom he visited a refugee center in Vranje, about Serbia's readiness to help treat wounded Ukrainians and participate in rebuilding the damaged infrastructure.

"During the visit to the refugee center, I really felt the attitude of the president of Serbia towards Ukrainian children, his warmth and openness towards them. And that is a sign that Serbia shares our sorrow, our tragedy and that it will continue to support us," Tolkach told RTS, stating that there are about 7,500 Ukrainian citizens in Serbia, of which 500 have permanent residence.

Serbia and Ukraine have many things in common, and that is primarily the European path, said the ambassador who took office in Belgrade about ten days ago, when the war in Ukraine was lasting for almost 100 days.

"What happened in the previous weeks, meetings with the president of Serbia and the minister of foreign affairs and the talks we had are very important and that cooperation continues," said the ambassador and stressed that on the other hand it is important to intensify economic cooperation.

According to him, we should introduce a free trade zone in order to facilitate the exchange of goods, because for Ukraine, Serbia remains almost the only country in Europe where there are still customs and tax barriers.

He added that it is known that during the war, the EU lifted customs and tariff restrictions.

Asked how much the war affects his engagement in Belgrade and in what way, and what his priorities will be in the coming period, he said that his priorities have changed a lot compared to what he thought they would be.

Today, it is difficult to make plans because the only thing we can talk about is the war that has lasted 112 days, that is, eight years, he said.

The ambassador also said that the fact that people participate in events marked with the letter Z, makes citizens of Ukraine not feel safe (in Serbia) in a certain sense.

"All that Russia is doing in Ukraine now, all the horrors that our people are experiencing are felt here as well because of that attitude and the use of the letter Z, which for us is a fascist swastika," he said.

Asked whether Ukraine, from which a number of false reports about bombs are coming to Serbia, will be able to support the Serbian police in prosecuting those who are doing this, he said that he is sorry that his country is mentioned in that context.

We addressed the local authorities and the Ministry of the Interior in order to establish cooperation between competent authorities of both countries in order to investigate as quickly and objectively as possible, he said.

"This is not just a problem of Ukraine and Serbia and I can give an example, a few days ago there was a report of a bomb near the embassy, that intimidation and reports about bombs is not just a Ukrainian or Serbian case, much more investigation is needed to solve the problem," said the ambassador.

(Telegraf.rs)