President responds to MEP: I did not ask for advice

Source: Beta

BELGRADE -- Tomislav Nikolic on Friday reacted to a suggestion voiced by a European Parliament (EP) official that he should not attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow.

(Beta, file)

Eduard Kukan said that Nikolic should travel to Moscow, but only to visit a monument for WW2 soldiers, and snub the parade.

In his reaction, the Serbian president said that the pressure exerted on him to make a decision that is not in the interest of the citizens of Serbia was "in vain."

Nikolic added that it was "rude to offer advice to somebody who did not ask for any."

A statement issued by the president's cabinet said that neither Nikolic nor any other Serbian politician ever offered advice to Slovakia's president concerning where they should go and what they should do.

Kukan is a Slovak MEP, and was this week visiting Serbia as head of an EP delegation, when he commented on Nikolic's announced trip to Russia in a statement to a Belgrade-based newspaper.

"The opinion of a large majority of citizens is that our country should foster best possible relations with everyone, including the Russian Federation. The president represents this opinion unequivocally and nobody will succeed in changing it, Mr. Kukan included," Nikolic's statement said.