FM: No Sanctions Against Russia as Long as Serbia Can Cope With Pressure From the West

Ivica Dacic (Beta/Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The Serbian foreign minister and the Socialist Party of Serbia leader, Ivica Dacic, has said that Serbia will not be imposing sanctions against Russia as long as that decision does not serve the preserving of the country’s national interests.

In an interview with BETA, Dacic said that at the moment, imposing sanctions against Russia was not in Serbia’s interest, explaining that aside from economic, it could also have harmful impacts on Moscow’s political support in relation to Kosovo and Metohija.

Asked what Serbia’s interest could be for imposing sanctions against Russia, Dacic replied that it was a matter of the limit to which Serbia could cope with this kind of pressure from the West.

“As Serbian President Aleksnadar Vucic has said, we will be assessing where the limit is for enduring such pressure. The limit is when it gets unbearable for Serbia,” Dacic specified.

The foreign minister also said that Serbia would be aligning with EU foreign and security policy to the extent “corresponding to Serbia’s foreign interests.” “As long as we do not know what will happen with Serbia’s territorial integrity, we will not be able to align our policy with that of the EU,” Dacic stressed.