Serbia guarantees it won’t impose sanctions on Russia “as long as it lasts” – Observer

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The Serbian government condemned it on Monday “Threats and Pressures” He has vowed to join Western sanctions against Russia in the wake of Ukraine’s military invasion, but to “hold on” as long as he can.

“We will adhere to the policy set by the Serbian National Security Council as long as we do not endanger our most important national and state interests,” President Aleksandar Vucic was quoted as saying by the official Tanjug news agency on Monday.

In the decisions of this state body, it was decided Sanctions against Russia are against Serbia’s national interests.

Vucic also opined that if the country changes its current policy, “after five days, new pressures and demands will come.”

The Serbian president was referring to Serbia’s demand to relinquish its former southern province of Kosovo, which was declared self-declared in 2008 and is not recognized by Belgrade, Russia or China, but is legalized by the United States and most European Union countries.

President of Belgrade Condemned the presence of increasing conditions and pressures provided by Brussels and Washington“Because it bothers them that there is a country that doesn’t kneel and pretends to have its own opinion”.

They openly threaten our entire country and its survival,” he declared.

Serbia, which has official accession status, has been criticized by the EU for recently strengthening its traditional political, economic and diplomatic ties with Russia.

Published last Wednesday, it marks a retreat from the Serbian government’s commitment to the EU’s foreign policy.

At the end of September, the initial report of the European Parliament Brussels has asked for a freeze on accession talks with Serbia until Belgrade lifts sanctions on Russia.

Belgrade and Budapest recently announced that they would agree to the dispute Build a 128-kilometer pipeline that supplies Russian oil to Serbia Through the “Friendly Pipe” (Druzhba) which crossed Hungary and connected Russia with Germany.

The construction of the new extension connecting Alghero (southern Hungary) with Novi Sad (capital of Serbian Vojvodina) is expected to take two years at a cost of approximately 100 million euros.

The project, already considered in the past, aims to reduce Serbia’s dependence on Croatia for oil imports, as Serbian oil company NIS continues to receive Russian oil from the Croatian terminal on the Adriatic through the Janaf pipeline.

CroatiaA member state of the European Union, such as Hungary, Brussels agreed to sanctions banning Russian oil exports to third countries.

However, after weeks of heated debate, the Hungarian government secured an exemption from Brussels by ensuring that oil sent through the Druzhba pipeline would be exempted from European sanctions.

This 4,000 kilometer pipeline, considered one of the longest in the world, runs from Russia through Ukraine to Germany and serves Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.