Giaufret: No Deadline for Introducing Sanctions against Russia

Emanuele Giaufret (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

EU Delegation to Serbia chief Emanuele Giaufret said on Oct. 20 that "there is not deadline for Belgrade" to introduce sanctions against Russia but that the question "is attracting attention" in Europe's capitals and the European Parliament because "it has to do with the future of entire continent, our security and our prosperity."

Giaufret said that the EU understood the reasons and motivation behind the decisions that Serbia was passing in this "specific situation"- its energy dependence on Russia, the open question of Kosovo and the widespread sympathies of the population for Russia but added that"it was Serbia that chose membership in the EU as its strategic orientation."

"Of course, the govenrment of every EU member promotes the interests of its citizens, which is why they were chosen and that is entirely legitimate. The question, though, is the context in which you put your own interests and I do not think that there is a contradiction between our expectations and the Serbian government promoting the interests of Serbia, because in my opinion,  its interest is in a European context," Giaufret told the latest edition of the Vreme weekly.