Prime Minister: International Pressure Directed at Vucic

Ana Brnabic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

International political and economic pressure on Serbia is mostly or solely focused on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on March 3.

"I wish that I could withstand most of it," Brnabic told reporters at the opening of a chamber of Chinese businesspeople in Serbia, when asked by journalists what kind of pressures was Serbia exposed to. She confirmed that pressure on the part of international officials and EU countries and from both the West and East, with regard to all subjects, including European integrations continued on March 2.

The pressures, she added, have to do with Kosovo, special relations with Republika Srpska and included threats that certain investors will leave Serbia. "We are fighting to defend Serbian interests and international public law. We are counting on international public law like all of the other small countries that it protects, because small countries are not strong enough to change it by force and impose their will on others, Brnabic said.

"Serbia's position is clear and principled and we will defend it - we recognize and respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and believe that its violation is wrong. It is not in our vital interest to impose sanctions against Russian individuals and companies and will defend this position," she said.