Vucic: Serbia has condemned Russia, but does not want to impose sanctions
Belgrade is working on the issue of diversifying Russian gas supplies to the country.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced this at the Globes conference in Bratislava.
He also explained to his Western colleagues the reasons for his position regarding anti-Russian sanctions and reminded them of double standards, citing the example of the bombing of Yugoslavia and the current situation in Ukraine.
“It is true that we cannot survive without gas supplies. We have always been one hundred percent dependent on Russian fuel. There are other EU countries that are in the same position. We are working to diversify our supplies,” Vucic said, answering a question about the new gas agreement with Russia.
He said that he had a conversation with Vice-President of the European Commission Maros Sevcovic about developing a joint strategy for obtaining gas from the TAP and TANAP gas pipelines, through which fuel is supplied from Azerbaijan through Turkey to Greece. In this context, the head of state emphasized the importance of building a gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Serbia, as well as North Macedonia and Serbia.
“Only then will we be able to diversify. This will give us the opportunity to get another gas. We must survive and act rationally. I know no one wants to hear this right now. We now have hysteria, during which everyone is saying the same thing, so it is difficult to offer rational stories,” the Serbian leader added.
He noted that in South-Eastern Europe there are Serbia and Hungary, which are supplied with Russian gas, and expressed hope that Bulgaria will be able to receive a sufficient amount of liquefied gas, as Washington promises, but expressed some doubts that this will be possible.
“There is no doubt that we will not have enough gas. Six years ago I went to Baku and talked to Ilhan Aliyev, but they could not provide us with sufficient supplies. Now we spend three times more than before, and consumption is constantly growing,” the president explained.
Asked about the elections in Serbia, the impact of relations between Serbia and Russia and the Ukrainian crisis on their outcome, and why Belgrade is still an ally of Moscow, Vucic said that citizens cast their votes in the elections the way they wanted.
He added that his party actually achieved worse results in the last elections than in previous ones, gaining only 43% of the votes. But he also pointed out that his closest competitors received 12-13%, while right-wing parties received significantly more support this time precisely because of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
The head of Serbia noted that his country responded responsibly to the crisis in Ukraine and that many voters were outraged that the country voted against “Russian aggression against Ukraine” in the UN General Assembly.
According to him, the Serbs do not have anything against the Ukrainians, they consider them friends, but the people do not forget the events of 1999.
“At that time, Serbia was bombed by 19 NATO countries, and its territorial integrity was not taken into account. Today we hear about the sovereignty of Ukraine every day, but then the territorial integrity of Serbia was not taken into account. Sorry for the frankness,” the Serbian leader emphasized.
He says that Serbia and Russia have traditionally had good relations, which are not always easy to explain, and also added that the authorities in the country should act pragmatically and move towards the EU.
At the same time, Vucic made a reservation that Serbia is not an ally of Russia; it condemned Moscow’s politically military operation, but did not impose sanctions against Russia. According to the president, to understand this position, one must take into account that Serbia has always enjoyed the support of Russia and China in the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, and therefore does not want to lose such support.
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