The European Union (EU) has warned Serbia that maintaining ties with Moscow amid the Russian aggression against Ukraine is inconsistent with the bloc’s values and the accession process, reports Radio Free Europe.
This response from Brussels comes after the planned meeting of Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), which will be held from September 3 to 6 in Vladivostok, Russia.
The EU has been very clear with our partners: relations with Russia cannot be normal after Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine,” the EU said to Radio Free Europe (RFE) on September 3.
The EU “wants to count on all candidate countries as reliable European partners for principles, values, security, and shared prosperity.”
Putin’s cabinet said that the Russian president will meet with Vulin on September 4. Putin will also meet on the same day with the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Vice President of China.
“If Orban is allowed, Vulin should be allowed too” In response to RFE’s question about Vulin’s meeting with Putin, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević said he had seen the announcement in the media.
He said that “there is nothing epochal or so terrible” about Vulin meeting Putin in Russia.
“We have not severed diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation; it is not forbidden for someone to meet with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Vučević added during a tour in Novi Pazar, southwestern Serbia.
Vučević emphasized that Serbia does not encourage the war in Ukraine and does not support the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“We voted for all resolutions confirming Ukrainian integrity, but we do not abandon our friendship with the Russian Federation, we did not impose sanctions, nor did we expel the ambassador. On the contrary, we have normal communication,” he stressed.
He also recalled that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as the leader of an EU and NATO member state, recently visited Moscow and met with Putin.
“If Orban is allowed, certainly Vulin can meet too. I see no difference or other approach,” said the Serbian Prime Minister.
“We will not apologize for our policy or justify it. We can explain our policy,” Vučević concluded.
Since taking office as Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister in May, Vulin has visited Russia twice.
He has continued to maintain close ties with the Kremlin even after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. During his visits to Moscow, he has repeatedly emphasized that Serbia will not impose sanctions on the Kremlin.
Vulin – former head of the Security and Information Agency (BIA) – is under sanctions from the United States, among others, due to his links with Russia.
Serbia is one of the few European countries that has not imposed sanctions on Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine, for which it has been criticized by Brussels, which aims to join it in the future.
