The Serbian representatives in Brussels voiced the “principled position” that Serbia does not want to take any steps that would lead to an erosion of its relations with the Russian Federation, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said late Monday, stressing that no objection was made to the stance, which resulted in “no particular discussion.”
Speaking to reporters after the 23rd round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Dacic said that EU High Representative Catherine Ashton did not raise the issue of Serbia’s position regarding Ukraine, and said that he and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic voiced a position “based on the fundamental orientation that Serbia wants to continue on its path towards the EU, and that, on the other hand, it does not want to take any steps that would endanger its relations with the Russian Federation.”
“At the start of the meeting, Ashton said that, as opposed to reports in our press, she does not want to discuss this, but we ourselves presented very clear positions and there were no discussions or objections on their part,” Dacic said.
Dacic said that the questions of territorial integrity and sovereignty are very important to Serbia as both “have been violated in Serbia, too.”
With that in mind, Serbia’s foreign policy and positions will be balanced according to those principles, Dacic also said.
Serbia, a non-EU member country that is under no obligation to align its positions with those of the EU, aligned its positions with Brussels’ views in 29 out of 32 cases last year, Dacic said.
