After her meeting with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told a press conference that Serbia was a pillar of peace and stability in the Western Balkans, that it wouldn’t allow any “instability or crisis” to spill over into the region, and that it wouldn’t join international sanctions against Russia, according to MIA’s Belgrade correspondent.
“Many in the EU are concerned that instability may spill over into the Western Balkans,” PM Brnabic said. “I’ve made it clear that Serbia will continue to play the role of one of the pillars of stability in the Western Balkans, that we will continue to be an exporter of peace and stability, and that we won’t allow any instability or crisis to spill over into this part of Europe.”
She said Serbia condemns the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, adding that it does not want to impose sanctions on Russia. “Although not fully welcomed by the EU and other partners,” she said, this was “a principled position of a country that has gone through aggression since 1999 and previously through sanctions that had affected the citizens the most.”
Asked whether the war in Ukraine changed anything in the relations between Serbia and Russia, she said: “Relations between the two countries have traditionally been very good, because we are connected by history, culture, tradition, religion, and, in modern times, energy.”
She added that ties between Serbia and Russia were not much different from the bilateral ties of any other European country that was heavily dependent on Russian gas. Chancellor Nehammer said Serbia was a geostrategically and geopolitically important partner of Austria. He said the invasion of Ukraine was an unprecedented situation and it was important to send the message that the Western Balkan countries belong in the EU and Europe.
“It’s true – it’s greatly concerning that Russia has a great influence in this region and China has an interest in positioning itself. So in terms of security policy, it’s in the EU member states’ interest and it’s our duty to say we belong together and should find solutions to problems we need to solve,” Nehammer said.
Commenting on Serbia’s European integration, the Austrian Chancellor said negotiations were always complicated because it was a difficult and intense process.
