Europe behaves like a community of territories, and its leaders behave like public utilities, not like politicians. This opinion was expressed on Thursday by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin, on the air of the Happy TV channel.
“Europe today behaves like a commonwealth of territories, and not a commonwealth of states, as if there [at the head] are people who are engaged in communal affairs, and not politics,” Vulin said.
According to the head of the Serbian Foreign Ministry, the leader of the republic, Aleksandar Vucic, is the only one among European leaders who “behaves like a politician.” He noted that the President of Serbia adheres to the norms of international law and refuses to impose sanctions against Russia against the backdrop of a special operation to protect Donbass.
He noted that states have “their interests, their needs”, they, according to the politician, “have a memory.”
Serbia will never forget how Russia, by imposing a veto in the UN Security Council (SC) in 2015, prevented the proclamation of the Serbian people “guilty of genocide,” Vulin stressed.
On the eve of Wednesday, May 25, Vučić said that Serbia currently does not have the opportunity to introduce restrictive measures against the Russian economy. According to him, the republic does not intend to take the side of the West or the Russian Federation, since the well-being of Serbian citizens remains the main priority of the leadership.
On April 21, the Serbian leader said that Belgrade would not follow the West along the path of restrictive measures against Russia, as this would jeopardize the national interests of his country.
Meanwhile, Serbia has taken a course to reduce dependence on energy from the Russian Federation. So, on May 17, Minister of Energy Zorana Mihajlovic announced plans to increase the volume of purchases in other countries.
On April 8, the EU removed Serbia from the list of countries subject to sanctions for importing oil from the Russian Federation, and it will continue to receive Russian oil supplies.
A number of states, including all EU countries, are imposing new sanctions against the Russian Federation in response to the military operation carried out by Moscow since February 24 to protect Donbass. Moscow explained that the tasks of the special operation include the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, the implementation of which is necessary to ensure the security of Russia. The decision was made against the backdrop of aggravation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.