Vucic: We Would Live 10 Times Better If We Imposed Sanctions against Russia, but We Won’t Do That

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on May 15 that Serbia was suffering a great deal because it had not imposed sanctions against Russia and that life in the country would be 10 times better if it did, but that it would not because it was leading an independent policy.

Vucic told Prva TV that it was easy for many politicians to say they were against imposing sanctions against Russia. He explained that Serbia currently had no access to the capital market, that loans were more expensive, that loans were now being offered at an interest rate of seven percent and that refinancing loans was difficult, which would ultimately affect salaries and pensions.

The president reiterated that Serbia knew how unfair sanctions were and that Serbia was doing everything for the sake of respecting law, but added that the people should know that the state was losing a lot because it had not introduced sanctions against Russia. Vucic asked the international community why it was not bombing Russia now like they it bombed Serbia in 1999, saying that it was claiming that the current events in Ukraine "have never been seen before on European soil."

The Serbian president further said that he expected a "normal" price to be reached in the latest negotiations with Russia on gas. "I expect a normal price of gas from Russia, it is important that we have gas, we have a Russian company running the Serbian oil industry. We can import oil only via Croatia's (pipeline) JANAF," said Vucic and added that Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov had promised him that Bulgaria would not cause any problems with gas transit to Serbia.