"Western embassies worried about PM's statements"

SOURCE: DANAS
BELGRADE -- "Embassies in Belgrade of the most powerful Western nations are very concerned about the statements of Prime Minister Ivica Dačić," writes the daily Danas.


The reason, the newspaper is reporting on Tuesday, is his recent interview, when he said that the West was "bringing Serbia closer to Russia."

Western diplomats interpreted this as a possible "pro-Russian turn" of the prime minister.

The daily said it was quoting "well-informed sources from the top of the Serbian government," who received "worried reactions from several embassies and requests for clarification of Dačić's messages made in his interview for the AP."

The article continues to say that the embassies are now carefully analyzing Dačić's statements, "and fear that President Tomislav Nikolić, who is generally regarded as a Russian man, is gaining an ally in advocating for more than close relations between Belgrade and Moscow."

"Those (in the West) who criticize Serbia for its closeness to Russia and for our partnership with Russia, should ask themselves why they haven't offered such relations to Serbia?I keep telling the West: Serbia needs a strategic partner in the West too... But, they are not interested at all," Dačić said in the interview.

Professor of Political Sciences Predrag Simić was asked to comment on this and told the newspaper that after Dačić's statements, he "expected the Western countries react to the shift in relations between Belgrade and Moscow." According to him, Ivica Dačić was seeking to strengthen his position in terms of, "the West should not overdo with their demands, so we don't go East."

For this reason, this professor believes, "an aggravation of relations between Belgrade and the West can be expected in the coming period."

"Things came to a head when it comes to relations between Russia and the West, especially now because of the situation in Ukraine, where it was decided that the country wants to stop the process of European integration. The West is very concerned that Russia has shown itself to be powerful by winning in Ukraine, Syria, Armenia, Moldova," said Simić.

Foreign policy journalist Seška Stanojlović told the newspaper that the situation "somehow comes down to the self-defense of Prime Minister Ivica Dačić," because, according to her, many believe that he is a Russian man. His statements are also seen as "a signal to the West ahead of the first intergovernmental conference with the EU, which is expected by January, to make sure it is not delayed."

"On the other hand, the fact is that there are internal divisions in the government and that is certainly a cause for concern of the Western countries, especially in view of the latest case with Ukraine, which has withdrawn from the EU accession process," Stanojlović was quoted as saying.