Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić will continue to refrain from imposing sanctions on Russia despite pressure from the West, he told the TASS agency, adding that when it comes to relations between Serbian and Russian citizens, a friend in need is a friend indeed.
He said that when the conflict in Ukraine began, he did not know how events would develop and that a decision was taken at the state level that Serbia would condemn the conflict like everyone else, but that Serbia’s position was not to impose sanctions on Russia.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Serbian government has refused – and become the only country in Europe – to impose sanctions on Russia, despite appeals from Brussels.
“We’re not beating our chests or anything, but as you can see, my answer will continue to be that we will strive to defend our position for as long as possible. We’ve managed to do that for two years. Whether we will continue to do so – I don’t know, but I hope,” Vučić told TASS Director General Andrei Kondrashov.
“I said that then because we know from our own experience what it feels like when sanctions are imposed on you. We have friendly people and it would be unfair to treat the Russian people like that,” Vučić added.
“You have many friends in all European countries, and they’ve all imposed sanctions on Russia. Someone will tell you that the central government imposed them, and they are against it, someone will say we imposed sanctions on you, but we help in other things. The only country that hasn’t imposed sanctions is small Serbia,” Vučić said.
At every international event he attends, “the main topic is sanctions against Russia,” he added.
Responding to a question about the nature of the friendship and brotherhood between the Russian and Serbian peoples, Vučić mentioned the proverb: “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
He pointed out that, as president, one must always be rational and pragmatic, but that human dignity and human nature are best appreciated in difficult times.
“In Serbian and Russian, as well as in all Anglo-Saxon, Germanic languages, there is a proverb that a true friend is known in times of trouble. It’s easy to be a friend in easy times. Remaining a friend, remaining sincere when it’s difficult, it’s precisely in such times that you show your true face. I think that Serbia, as a small country, is more than fair in its relationship with the Russian state and the Russian people,” Vučić said.
Although Serbia is not yet formally obliged to align its foreign policy with Brussels’ stance on Russia, as it has not opened Chapter 6 in its accession negotiations with the European Union, which relates to foreign and security policy, this step was expected from a country that is “knocking on the door” of the European bloc.
(Jelena Jevtić | EURACTIV.rs)
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