"Serbia will never join sanctions against Russia"

Source: Beta, Blic

BELGRADE -- First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić has said that Serbia will maintain its neutral position when it comes to the crisis in Ukraine.

(Tanjug, file)

Dačić repeated that the country would never join any sanctions introduced against Russia.
"We respect the territorial integrity of each UN member-state, Ukraine included, but on the other hand, Serbia will never join any kind of sanctions against Russia because it is not only a friendly country, an economic and political partner, but a country that never introduced sanctions against Serbia," he told the daily Blic.

Dačić noted that this position would also be presented in the Council of Europe, "because it is important that Serbia maintains a principled approach."

Speaking about the dialogue with Priština, Dačić said its continuation had not yet been scheduled, and that "things are completely clear, that is, the negotiating process is on the level of prime ministers."

"That's how it was started, as well. I am ready to make my contribution to the prime minister, as much as needed," he said.

Commenting on statements coming from the opposition that "the foreign factor" influenced the composition of the new cabinet, he described them as "belonging to political fiction."

"This time a coalition was not needed to put together a government, this was exclusively a political decision of the prime minister to reach out to other political factors," Dačić said.