Serbia Rejects Western Dictation to Impose Sanctions on Russia​

The Sputnik news agency Saturday (9/12/2023) evening reported that Milos Vučević, Minister of Defense of Serbia on Saturday (9/12/2023) said, "Even though we are moving towards the European Union, this does not mean that we will stop cooperating with China , Russia, India, or African or South American countries.,". The Serbian Defense Minister stressed that Belgrade will independently decide whether to join sanctions against Russia and will not give in to external pressure to impose sanctions on Moscow. Vucevic views the results of Serbia's parliamentary elections on Friday as influencing the continuation of the country's current policy of not participating in sanctions against Russia. "The victory of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's ruling party in the legislative elections will lead to the continuation of Belgrade's policy of not participating in sanctions against Russia," the Serbian Defense Ministry said. Vučević further called the situation of Kosovo and Metohija the biggest threat to Serbia's national security, asserting, "The continued arming of Albanians in Kosovo as a force that Kosovo calls the security forces of this country concerns us." Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Western countries have been active actors in this battleground and by taking anti-Russian positions, sending weapons and military equipment and imposing sanctions on Russia, which has fueled tensions and conflict. According to Ukrainian officials, Western countries have provided more than $100 billion in military aid to Kyiv.(PH)