Serbia responded to Ukraine's claims officially and unofficially
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic spoke out about the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities, who protested the visit of a delegation from Crimea to Belgrade from December 4 to 7, emphasizing that Kiev views this as a “hostile act” and an attempt by Russia to give legitimacy to the “illegal occupation of the Autonomous Republic Crimea".
During this visit, representatives of Crimea represented by Georgy Muradov and State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya met with deputies in Belgrade, and a conference “Belgrade Dialogue: constructive relations with Russia and recognition of the will of the people of Crimea” was held.
“Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine. None of the officials met with the Crimean delegation,” according to the official response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by Informer.
When asked how he comments on criticism of Kyiv, Dacic replied: “general demarches that we receive all the time.”
Serbia is forced not to officially recognize the Russian status of Crimea, since in this case Kyiv threatens to recognize the independence of Kosovo captured by the separatists.
Belgrade is now conducting a successful diplomatic campaign - several countries that previously relied on the opinion of the United States have already reversed their decisions to recognize Kosovo. This blocks the separatists' membership in international structures.
An unofficial response to Ukraine was voiced by Member of Parliament from the Serbian Radical Party Aleksandar Seselj. He said in an interview with Politika that the Ukrainian demarche should not cause concern to the Serbian Foreign Ministry.
“Given our international position and the protection we have on all issues from Russia, we should have a special relationship with this country, and it should have a special status for our diplomacy in relation to any other country. The regime in Kyiv cannot be called democratic since the Maidan in 2014,” Seselj said.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.