Vucic: Serbia will not impose sanctions against Russia, we will continue with principles-based policy

Photo: TANJUG/ JADRANKA ILIC/ nr

President Aleksandar Vucic said over the weekend that Serbia will not impose sanctions against the Russian Federation.

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"We conduct our own policy and it is based on principles, not on whether we like something or whether something suits us at one time or another... We will continue with the policy which has proven itself to be correct thus far, which no one liked, neither those in the West, nor those in the East, but the citizens of Serbia do, because it's the policy of an independent and sovereign state of Serbia," Vucic said during a tour of the new University Clinical Center of Serbia's Center for Palliative Care in Batajnica.

This is how he responded to a journalist asking him to comment on Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starovic allegedly telling Austrian media that Serbia will be ready to impose sanctions against Russia, once it becomes a member of the EU.

"Minister Starovic spoke a little differently, he certainly wasn't careful, but he said it differently. I'm sorry that some of our friends in the Russian media can't wait to find a reason to criticize Serbia, and I'm sorry that we have many people on the domestic political scene who jump to defend the Russians faster than they would ever jump to defend Serbia. I have to disappoint them all, Serbia will not impose sanctions against the Russian Federation," said Vucic.

He added that since July 1, Serbia has not exported "a single bullet" to any country, adding that this now represents a difficulty for Serbian defense factories.

"We will very much so take care that no one can accuse us of having additionally incited war conflicts anywhere, except that will present great difficulties for us and we will have trouble with the wages for our workers," said Vucic.

His message is that Serbia will not allow other big players to use it in their games and reiterated that there will be no sanctions against Russia.

"Our policy remains - there will be no sanctions. When I say it won't happen, it's not because one person decided that, but because I still think that the majority of ministers want to hear my position on that issue and that the majority in the National Assembly also wants to hear my position on that issue. My position has not changed, so our policy remains," concluded Vucic.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)