“Stock up on oil!” – the Serbian government called for sanctions against Russia
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Serbia Zorana Mihailovic called for sanctions against Russia.
She emphasized that she has never changed her position on this issue, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The state must decide on the issue of imposing sanctions against Russia, but for this it is necessary to wait for the formation of a new government,” Zorana Mihailovic said on the Serbian TV channel TV Prva.
When asked by a journalist whether she was ready to vote for sanctions if she joined the new cabinet of ministers, Mikhailovich emphasized that she had never changed her position on this issue. Previously, she has repeatedly stated that the future of Serbia lies exclusively in the European Union.
At the same time, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, there is no threat of a shortage of petroleum products on the Serbian market, and the new package of EU sanctions prohibiting the import of Russian oil will not affect the stability of supplies of this raw material to Serbia.
“In terms of oil supplies to our market, there will be no problems, because until now we have imported crude oil via the Adriatic pipeline not only from Russia, but also from other countries. This is nothing new to us and we have known about this scenario since May.
The important thing is that we will definitely have enough crude oil. The result of a ban on imports of Russian oil after December 5 will be a decrease in NIS profits, not an increase in prices at the pump,” she added.
Note that the Serbian oil refining company NIS is 50% owned by the Russian Gazprom Neft.
But the Serbian official, who had previously made Russophobic attacks, did not limit herself to just hints in the mentioned speech. According to her, Russia is waging a “war of conquest, not a war of liberation,” and the Russian president is “bringing the whole world, every citizen, every child one step closer to suffering.”
“In such a situation, we must have a clear position and find our place for the next 100 years. The world is changing, the geopolitical situation is different, and we must look to the future and look for our place,” Mihailovic said.
Local analysts note that such freedom of the Deputy Prime Minister would hardly have been possible without the permission of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is now being forced by the European Union to make a final choice between Brussels and Moscow.
What this choice will be will become clear after the formation of the new Serbian government, which is expected by the end of October.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, the other day Aleksandar Vucic said that the current government of Serbia will not impose sanctions against Russia, but the reality may change.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.