The largest of the states to emerge from the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Orthodox Christian and Slavic Serbia has natural affinity with Moscow, but it is keen to join the European Union.
This month, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Hoyt Brian Yee told Belgrade it “cannot sit on two chairs at the same time”. His remarks sparked sharp criticism in the Serbian capital.
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who heads the co-ruling Socialists, once led by late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, said Belgrade would maintain balance with the West, Russia and China.
“What we do not want is that someone pulls our own chair from under us … what is important is to see what is in our own best interest,” Dacic told Reuters in an interview.
