Serbian President Vučić: Brussels expects Belgrade to condemn Russia and impose sanctions

BELGRADE, 12 October – RIA Novosti. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, after meeting with Emmanuel Jofre, head of the EU’s permanent delegation to Serbia, said for Brussels that Serbia’s progress towards European integration would be Belgrade’s daily condemnation of Russia and the imposition of sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Vučić met with Žofre on Wednesday evening and formally presented him with the European Commission’s annual report on Serbia’s progress towards the EU in 2022. According to the European representative, the degree of agreement between the official Belgrade and Brussels has dropped from 64% to 25% this year. He stressed that the EU expects Belgrade and other candidate countries to agree on sanctions against the Russian Federation, but we are not talking about freezing negotiations on Serbia’s membership and European integration.

“Of course, this political part colored the report, and this is the only part where there is setback with respect to the EU – in our attitude towards sanctions against Russia, in our compliance with EU statements. Serbia’s political decision and we pay the price for it, but we will take into account everything you say and write. ” said.

“The worst assessment is a setback, and we only retreated in one area – regarding Russia. If we condemn Russia every day, there will be progress,” the Serbian leader said.