EU criticizes Serbian Deputy Prime Minister's plans to meet with Putin
Kyiv • UNN
The EU has warned Serbia that maintaining ties with Russia is incompatible with the bloc's values. This followed the announcement of Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vulin's meeting with Putin at a forum in Vladivostok.
The European Union has warned Serbia that maintaining ties with Russia during a full-scale invasion of Ukraine is incompatible with the bloc's values and the EU accession process. This was reported by the Balkan service of Radio Liberty, UNN reports .
Details
It is noted that the warning to the EU candidate country came after the announcement of a meeting between Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the economic forum in Vladivostok this week. Putin's administration said he would meet with Vulin on September 4 and hold talks with officials from China and Malaysia the same day.
The European Union has made it clear to its partners that relations with Russia cannot remain business as usual after its unjustified and aggressive war against Ukraine,
At the same time, they emphasized that the EU wants to count on all candidate countries as reliable European partners with common principles and values in security issues.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said that he had seen the announcement of the meeting in the media, but believes that "there is nothing epoch-making or so terrible about Vulin's meeting with Putin in Russia.
"We have not severed diplomatic relations with Russia, and no one is forbidden to meet with its representatives," Vuchevich said.
He also added that Serbia does not encourage the war in Ukraine and does not support the violation of the country's territorial integrity.
"We have voted for all the resolutions that confirm the integrity of Ukraine, but we do not renounce our friendship with the Russian Federation, we have not imposed sanctions, we have not expelled the ambassador. On the contrary, we maintain normal communication," Vucevic summarized.
