Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Friday Serbia was advocating peace and respect of international law and believed that violation of the territorial integrity of any country, including Ukraine, is wrong but that, in order to protect its own interests, it would not impose sanctions on Russia.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Friday Serbia was advocating peace and respect of international law and believed that violation of the territorial integrity of any country, including Ukraine, is wrong but that, in order to protect its own interests, it would not impose sanctions on Russia.
Serbia respects the norms of international law and is not giving up on that practice because it is the best way of protecting our country, but the country also understands well its own needs and has its own vital national and state interests, and also respects traditional friendships and has not forgotten all the things that happened in 1999 and 2015, Vucic said in a public statement after a National Security Council session on developments in Ukraine.
Conveying the conclusions of the session, Vucic noted that Serbia’s policy was based on international law and that the country fully supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
He said that, when it comes to sanctions, Serbia would be governed exclusively by its own vital interests.
“Based on our experience, imposing sanctions on any state is not a vital political and economic interest of Serbia,” Vucic said.
“Taking everything into account, we tried to take not only a joint but a united position regarding the crisis in Ukraine and regarding our actions and reaction,” Vucic said.
“We have also faced numerous pressures that were almost not hidden at all, and despite that, we have made the decision in a calm and reasonable manner, in Serbia’s best interest,” Vucic noted.
“We believe that respect of the norms of international law means a further strengthening of our position in the defence of our vital national interests,” he said.
Source: Tanjug, Photo: Predsedništvo Srbije / Dimitrije Goll