Dačić with the heads of EU and Western Balkan diplomacies

In Brussels, today, after a meeting held with the heads of diplomacy of the EU and Western Balkans, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić said that no pressure was put on Serbia during that meeting and that he was pleasantly surprised by the fact that almost all ministers from the EU spoke positively of the necessity that the countries of the Western Balkans become full members of the Union as soon as possible, within specific deadlines.

However, the Minister Dačić noted that specific deadlines were not discussed on that day. He added that the representatives of the temporary institutions in Priština showed their extremist behavior on that day as well, stressing that such their behavior had already become consistent.

"They spoke of how Serbia represented a threat to peace and stability, that we were a disruptive factor, and that they were a factor of peace and stability which seems truly unreal" the Minister Dačić told reporters in Brussels.

Minister Dačić highlighted that he signed the Brussels Agreement 10 years ago and commented that he could not understand how even after all that time, the extremist statements were still heard from Priština, let alone speaking about why they did not form the Community of Serb Municipalities.

The Minister Dačić said that there was talk of harmonizing Serbia's foreign policy with the EU policy, adding that he told them that they should be fair to Serbia. He added that Serbia was not value-neutral regarding the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity, stating that we have shown this by voting for various resolutions.

The Minister also explained that Serbia did not join the sanctions because we do not believe that such measures are correct and also because we are guided by our own interests since, as the Minister stressed, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia were at stake. Minister Dačić also explained that Serbia would not represent a place from where sanctions would be violated.

"What we can be happy about is that there were no expressed pressures placed on Serbia; on the contrary, I think that all people could be able to see what the extremist policy that Priština was implementing looked like," Minister Dačić said. The Minister Dačić pointed out that the Union itself did not adhere to the established common foreign policy, citing the example of Priština.

"Not all countries have recognized Kosovo, so how can an independent Kosovo be deemed a joint foreign policy? Now, they have given them visa liberalization, a procedure has been initiated for the membership in the Council of Europe. They themselves do not adhere to what has been established as the common foreign policy when it comes to our territorial integrity and sovereignty," stressed Minister Dačić.

Asked to comment on the statement of the EU High Representative Joseph Borell, who said that close ties with Russia and the membership in the EU were not compatible, the Minister Dačić explained that this had been discussed before. "The problem here is that the principle of preserving territorial integrity should be universal, and not apply only to Serbia," said Minister Dačić.

At the ministerial meeting in Brussels, the Minister Dačić called upon everyone to analyze the extent to which each country applied the sanctions against Russia and asked how it was possible for someone to impose sanctions on Russia and simultaneously have an ever-increasing trade exchange with that country, unlike Serbia, where this exchange was decreasing.

Dačić said that Serbia should take care of its national interests. “It is said that we are obliged to harmonize our foreign policy before the moment of entry into the EU, is that what is written? So, when will that moment happen? Here, let them tell us when that moment will happen and we will tell them when we shall do it; as it is, we should say we shall do it now and they may say they will see, it might happen but not necessarily. That is not correct," said Minister Dačić.

Source: Tanjug