The EU has expressed hopes that Belgrade and Skopje will “deal with the issue calmly” after Serbia withdrew all diplomatic staff from the country.
An EU Commission spokesperson told BIRN that the diplomatic incident in Skopje “is a bilateral issue between the two countries, which the EU is closely following” in a statement Tuesday.
“We look to both sides to exercise restraint and deal with the issue calmly, in the spirit of good neighbourly relations,” the EU Commission said.
The European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Serbia, David McAllister, issued same statement ahead of an impending visit to Serbia.
Serbia unexpectedly withdrew all diplomatic staff from Skopje, Macedonia, on Sunday.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the foreign minister, Ivica Dacic, said on Monday they withdrew diplomatic staff from Macedonia after receiving intelligence about “offensive actions” planned against Serbia.
Vucic said on Monday that Serbian embassy staff were withdrawn from Macedonia after Belgrade obtained “evidence of very offensive intelligence against the institutions of Serbia.”
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic gave a similar statement to Tanjug news agency, also citing “offensive actions against the Republic of Serbia.”
Both Vucic and Dacic also said “foreign powers” were also involved, but declined to provide more details.
