Serbia to pursue independent foreign policy before EU entry

BELGRADE - Ivica Dacic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister and foreign minister, stated on Saturday that Serbia will pursue an independent foreign policy by the time it becomes a full-fledged member of the EU.

Serbia has taken a principled stance with a view to the Ukrainian crisis supporting the territorial integrity of every UN member state, but Belgrade is not due to and will not impose sanctions against Russia, Dacic said during a break of the 1st South-East Europe Conference of the World Federation of Consuls in Belgrade.

“Serbia will be obliged to respect the uniform, common foreign and security policy of the EU once it becomes a full-fledged member of the EU,” Dacic told reporters commenting on Friday's statements by the French and EU ambassadors that Belgrade is expected to offer clear support to the EU stance on the Ukrainian crisis.

“By then, Serbia will pursue an independent foreign policy,” he said.

Serbia's policy will be based on the country's commitment to the EU membership and consequently the greatest possible alignment with the stances of the EU along with simultaneous balancing, consideration and assessment of every individual issue in line with Serbia's state and national interests, Dacic said.
“Of course, it would be much easier if the countries, which today claim that Serbia should condemn the so-called illegal behavior of Russia towards Ukraine, did the same and condemned Kosovo's illegal behavior towards Serbia,” the foreign minister said, adding that double standards have never been good.

Photo Tanjug/N. Milosevic (archive)