Djukic: No Sanctions Against Serbia, the West Needs Vucic because of Kosovo

Srecko Djukic (BETAPHOTO/File/Ognjen Radosevic/DS)

A former Serbian diplomat, Srecko Djukic, said on Oct. 9 that the European Union (EU) would not impose sanctions against Serbia, because, as he put it, the West needed President Aleksandar Vucic because of Kosovo.

Djukic said to a BETA journalist that the EU and the United States expected Vucic to meet all the obligations provided by the Ohrid agreement he had accepted, to recognize all Kosovo documents in the coming months, accept the opening of Serbian and Kosovo diplomatic offices in Belgrade and Pristina, and to suspend efforts to block Kosovo’s moves to join international organizations, including the United Nations.

“Everyone knows what happened in Banjska, but at this point, it is more important for the West to see that the Serbian president has revisited the agenda set by the Ohrid agreement, than to have a detailed investigation into the recent tragic events in the north of Kosovo, and hold to account everyone who had been involved in, and organized the attack,” Djukic explained.

According to the diplomat, it is a priority for the West to identify a way out of the crisis created in the wake of the Banjska attack.

“It is possible that some measures might be imposed against Serbia, but they will not be very tough. The West wants to bring the Kosovo issue to an end with Vucic. The EU might decide to stop Serbia’s accession to the Union, but the process has been halted for two or three years already, as not a single cluster has been opened. If the EU decides to suspend funding to Serbia, that would be a problem,” Djukic explained.