Peter Stano (Photo: print screen/youtube)
The European Union (EU) believes that Serbia, as a state negotiating EU membership, cannot strengthen ties with Russia, because Russia has stepped up clashes, aggression and crimes in Ukraine, a spokesman for the European Commission, Peter Stano, said in Brussels, on Sept. 26.
Stano said for BETA that in Serbia’s EU accession process, the Union was urging Serbian leaders to secure stronger alignment between the country’s foreign-policy initiatives and the Union’s, as well Serbia’s support to international values and the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders.
When asked by journalists in Brussels about an agreement between the Serbian and Russian foreign ministries to continue consultations, Stano said it was a very clear sign that Serbia wanted to “strengthen the relationship, along with overall relations between Serbia and Russia,” suggesting that the move had caused “serious concern.”
EU High Representative Josep Borrell’s spokesman also said that “the EU was very clear that its partner states, especially those negotiating an entry into the Union, including Serbia, cannot maintain relations with Russia as usual, because it’s a regime responsible for so many crimes and misdeeds.”
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