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BELGRADE, June 10 (Reuters) – Serbian President Aleksandar Vuvic appeared to rebuff stress from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday for Serbia to affix European Union sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, saying he didn’t imagine sanctions to be “environment friendly”.
Scholz, who’s on a two-day tour of the Western Balkans, stated that as an EU membership candidate, Serbia ought to be a part of the bloc in its measures in opposition to Moscow, which all its members had been required to comply with.
Talking on the identical information convention in Belgrade, Vucic stated Serbia was in a troublesome place and that the EU ought to think about that Serbia and Russia had long-standing particular ties.
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“So far as sanctions are involved we’ve totally different place…. We keep in mind sanctions (in opposition to Serbia)and we don’t suppose sanctions are environment friendly,” Vucic stated.
He didn’t say whether or not Serbia deliberate to introduce sanctions on Russia.
On his journey, Scholz promised to assist the Western Balkans to reinvigorate their long-stalled marketing campaign for European Union membership, a transfer geared toward easing regional tensions and warding off the affect of rival powers corresponding to Russia.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has lent a brand new sense of urgency to the method of to tying Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo nearer to the 27-member EU, whether or not by means of full membership or an alternate group.
Talking alongside the Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Pristina earlier on Friday, Scholz stated his authorities had made Kosovo’s EU membership a precedence and would additionally assist its aspiration for EU visa liberalisation.
“It is vitally necessary to ship a brand new sign of confidence and hope that this accession course of is needed by the EU with nice seriousness, and that it additionally has a sensible probability if everybody makes an effort,” Scholz stated.
Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova have pushed to speed up their very own bids for EU membership for the reason that invasion, elevating questions over whether or not their accession needs to be fast-tracked or ought to wait their flip after Western Balkan international locations.
EU international locations together with Germany have stated there might be no short-cuts to Ukraine’s membership.
“We’re additionally in favour of Ukraine’s membership into the EU. After all, Ukraine has all the eye and it’s within the hearts of everyone who needs peace and democracy as a result of there’s a horrible conflict happening there, an unprovoked and unjustified conflict,” Kurti stated.
“However I imagine there have to be each (to affix EU), Ukraine and Western Balkans,” Kurti stated.
Scholz’s go to comes scorching on the heels of that of European Council President Charles Michel and forward of an EU-Western Balkans leaders’ summit on June 23. learn extra
DISILLUSIONMENT
The prospect of EU membership had for years been the primary driver of reform and better cooperation within the area after a decade of conflict and upheaval within the Nineteen Nineties, till EU growth stalled, spawning disillusionment.
Unresolved conflicts there have given rise to new tensions these days, such because the pro-Russian Bosnian Serbs’ secession plans.
“We is not going to give up this area within the coronary heart of Europe to Moscow’s affect,” German Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock had stated when she paid a go to to the Western Balkans in March.
Florian Bieber, a Balkan skilled at Austria’s College of Graz, stated the dearth in progress within the area’s EU membership bids was partly in charge.
“The actual fact it hasn’t occurred is an actual drawback and the rising affect of different international locations like Russia and China is a results of this course of not creating,” Bieber stated.
He stated it now remained to be seen whether or not Scholz’s authorities, which took workplace in December, will push the method ahead or “muddle alongside” as former chancellor Angela Merkel did by professing assist for the area however doing little to additional it.
Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov had additionally been set to go to Serbia this week, however his go to was cancelled when close by international locations closed their airspace to his flight. learn extra
Scholz is about to journey later to Thessaloniki in Greece to fulfill representatives of the South East European Cooperation Course of (SEECP), a 12-country Balkan regional physique.
On Saturday, he travels on to North Macedonia and Bulgaria, that are locked in a dispute stopping the beginning of EU accession talks.
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Reporting by Sarah Marsh in Berlin and Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade; Further reporting by Fatos Bytyci, Modifying by Alex Richardson and Raissa Kasolowsky
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