Serbia refuses to join anti-Russia sanctions

Belgrade, Nov 15 (IANS/TASS) Serbia Saturday turned down the European Commission's (EC) suggestion to be a party to the sanctions against Russia.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic made the position of his government on the issue clear and said that Serbia has its own government which takes decisions independently in the interests of the country.

"We are on a path to Europe, but Serbian policy will not change immediately," Vucic was quoted as saying.

Johannes Hahn, the newly appointed European Union (EU) commissioner for European neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations, had urged Serbia Friday to pursue a policy that is in line with the European one and to join anti-Russian sanctions.

Vucic noted Saturday that he "heard something like this not for the first time", but he had "several questions".

"When someone loses 1.5 billion euros over the impossibility to export fruit and vegetables to Russia, the EU indemnifies only 1.1 billion euros to the country. Who will indemnify this to us?" the Serbian premier noted.

Hahn is scheduled to visit Serbia Nov 20.

Ahead of the visit, he told reporters in Brussels that he understood that Serbia had its history and relations with Russia, but it had to take a decision at some point of time.

Serbia is a candidate to enter the EU and when Serbia joins the EU, the country will have to act in line with EU foreign policy and decisions, Hahn said, noting that an expected time for Serbia to accede to the EU is 2020.

The West had imposed sanctions on Russia over its assertiveness in Ukraine and US President Barack Obama, during an address Saturday on the margins of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, said that Russia's "aggression" towards Ukraine was a "threat to the world" and cited the downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The West considers Russia to have been complicit in the downing of the flight last July, that killed all the 298 passengers and crew on board and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had even demanded an apology and compensation from Russia, regarding the issue.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had also been barred from the G8 -- a grouping of the older developed economies of the world -- and there were calls to keep him out of the ongoing G20 Summit as well.

IANS/TASS

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