Dacic: Serbia will not impose sanctions on Russia

BELGRADE - Serbia will not impose sanctionson Russia when it takes over the OSCE chairmanship next year, Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreigjn Minister Ivica Dacic has told the Blic daily.

The OSCE focuses on European security and cooperation and does not impose sanctions, he noted.

Serbia, as a candidate for EU membership, is obligated to harmonise its foreign policy with the EU's, he stated.
"Since we are not a member (of the EU), it means we should impose sanctions on Russia on our own, and that is not realistic," he stressed.

When asked what was Serbia's interest in becoming a member of the EU, he replied that Serbia would ahve an interest in joining the EU until it became a developed EU country.
"Take and pen and do the math. What is Serbia's GDP, what should it give as a member of the EU and what would it get from the EU budget," he asked.

Commenting on Serbia's relations with Russia and the possibility of the country opting strategically for the east, he remarked that such a choice was not possible.
"We wish to be neutral in military termsn, and our political interest is to be a member of the EU," he noted.
"Our brotherly relations with Russia are a tradition," he said, adding that Russia had never during his career as a politician asked why Serbia was moving towards the EU.

"They believe we will not have much luck with that, but they have nothing against it," he stated.
Serbia will not change its view of the US, he said.

When asked if the recent statement by Labour Minister Aleksandar Vulin that Seselj's temporary release from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a plot by the US constituted a signal that Serbia was about to...