Russia ratifies agreement with Serbia, irritating West
The Russian parliament will soon ratify an agreement on economic cooperation between Serbia and the Eurasian Economic Union.
The corresponding bill was approved today during a meeting of the Russian Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The bill “On the ratification of the Agreement on a free trade area between the Eurasian Economic Union and its member states, on the one hand, and the Republic of Serbia, on the other hand,” was presented by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Vladimir Ilyichev.
“This agreement itself appeared in the process of our union and the idea about it. Regarding Russia, it should be noted that the free trade regime with Serbia is based on the agreement between the governments of Russia and Yugoslavia from 2000 and subsequent protocols thereto.
At the same time, after the accession of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to the Eurasian Union, which do not have similar agreements with Serbia, there was a need to unify the relevant trade agreements,” he explained.
According to Vladimir Ilyichev, this agreement will not only preserve the old benefits from trade agreements, but will also provide some preferences for export goods supplied to Serbia by Russia and EurAsEC member countries. Also, some Serbian goods will be delivered to Russia duty-free.
“I would like to note that this agreement will be the first agreement of the Eurasian Economic Union on a free trade area with a European country,” the deputy minister added.
The official mentioned that the conclusion of this agreement caused irritation in the West.
“Without the denunciation of this agreement, they will not be able to join the European Union... We would like to assume that this agreement will be permanent. We do not assume that they can join the EU in the foreseeable future,” Ilyichev explained.
Senator Andrei Klimov also drew attention to the political importance of this initiative.
“This is the first sign in relations with European countries. And it is especially important that Serbia, which de facto is our key strategic partner in the Balkans, is taking active steps towards rapprochement not only with our country, but also with such an important organization for us as the EurAsEC,” Klimov said.
After which the committee supported the agreement, in the future it will be submitted to the plenary hall for consideration by senators.
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