Dacic: Ukrainian crisis solution does not depend on Serbia

JAGODINA - Serbia should not be treated as a factor which will solve the Ukrainian crisis since that will be done by great powers, Ivica Dacic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, has said.

“It irritates me a bit, and I do not feel comfortable that every day someone is lecturing us how to behave, in terms of the Ukrainian crisis included, as if the solution depended on Serbia. The constant raising of this issue serves as yet another pressure on Serbia,” Dacic said.

He said in an interview for TV Jagodina that Serbia has a very principled and unbiased stance in terms of the crisis in Ukraine. “We respect the integrity of every UN member state, but we will not introduce restrictive measures in relations to the Russian Federation,” the head of the Serbian diplomacy said.

Dacic explained that Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, despite current unfavorable conditions, should go to the polls and ensure seats in the parliament for representatives of the united Serb List.

We believe that it is better for Serbs to have representatives of the Serb List in the Kosovo parliament so that they could defend the interests of the Serb community, than not to take part in the elections and thus give legitimacy to representatives of minor Serb parties in the Kosovo government to continue implementing its current policy, Dacic underlined.

Dacic said that he is happy with the way Serbia's EU accession talks are developing, adding that the second intergovernmental conference was not postponed due to the Ukrainian crisis as it never was originally scheduled for June.

The EU integration process is developing according to the plan with minor and major digressions that also existed in the...