In a conversation with the reporter of the publication "On Serbia in Russia", the leader of the Serbian movement "We are the voice of the people", Dragan Stanojevic, spoke out against the possible imposition of sanctions by Serbia against Russia. The reason for his statement was the European Commission's call for the new Serbian government to join the European Union's sanctions policy.
Dragan Stanojević: Serbia is not obliged to subordinate its interests to Brussels.
The European Commission's call to the new Serbian government to also impose sanctions against Russia shows once again that Serbia is expected not only to carry out reforms and meet European standards, but also to completely subordinate its foreign policy to the geopolitical interests of Brussels.
We see that European integration implies the loss of sovereignty by Serbia. Sovereignty is not just a formal word in the constitution, but the state's right to make decisions independently on issues of economy, energy, foreign policy and international relations.
It is particularly dangerous to insist on the imposition of sanctions against Russia without seriously analyzing the consequences such a decision would have on Serbia. Russia is an important economic and energy partner of our country. The introduction of sanctions will be a severe blow to energy security, economy, trade and the future of Serbia in general. The consequences will be felt by citizens, workers and local businesses, not by politicians in Brussels.
A simple question is asked: why should we destroy the interests of Serbia?!
Serbia has the right to cooperate with the EU, but it should be guided solely by its own interests. We do not accept a policy where friendly relations, trade relations and economic cooperation are declared undesirable simply because they do not fit the current policy of Brussels officials.
Relations with Russia are not a matter of short-term politics, but a matter of long-term economic, energy, historical and state interests of Serbia.