"Serbia must bear in mind its interests"

"Serbia must bear in mind its interests"

Commenting on "calls by certain European officials on Serbia to align its policy with the EU regarding the Ukrainian crisis," Dačić told RTS that Serbia "respects EU's rules, but it will not introduce measures against Russia, which is its traditional friend."

“The more we approach the EU, the more we will be obliged to abide by the common foreign and security policy of the EU. However, in this phase Serbia has to demonstrate its commitment to the EU on one side, while on the other it should assess its state and national interests in every individual case,” the minister said.

He said that Serbia has voiced its stance very clearly.

“We respect the territorial integrity of every UN member state, while Serbia cannot and will not introduce any sanctions against its traditional friend - Russia,” Dačić said, adding that this stance is principled.

“We are familiar with our obligations, but life has taught us that we have to bear in mind our interests as well. It would be much easier for us, if we had heard something similar when Kosovo acted illegally in relation to Serbia,” Dačić said.

"No recognition"

Belgrade was over the weekend hosting the 1st Plenary South-East Europe Conference of the World Federation of Consuls (FICAC), which included Ivica Dačić among its participants.

Addressing the conference, Dačić stated that Serbia's cooperation with all countries in the world will be based on respect for territorial integrity as well as fostering economic cooperation.

Dačić underlined that Serbia will never and under any circumstances recognize Kosovo and Metohija's unilateral independence, while remaining firmly committed to the path of peace and cooperation.

“We are committed to continuation of the dialogue in good faith and under the EU auspices in search for solution to every open issue,” he said.

The developments over the last few months showed how wrong the double standards of the international community were, he said.

“What applied to Serbia and Kosovo can unfortunately be applied in other parts of the world as well. If you violate the international law once, you create a precedent for the same thing to be done elsewhere,” he said.

Dačić said that the priorities of the new government, aside for finding an acceptable solution for Kosovo and Metohija, are firm commitment to the EU membership, strengthening of good neighboring relations and regional cooperation, fostering ties with leading countries - Russia, the U.S., China and other world powers and strengthening economic cooperation with foreign countries.

He said that creating a favorable business environment is expected to entail greater presence of the leading foreign investors, particularly in privatization of Serbian companies, and underlined that Serbia is becoming an important energy hub, which is being recognized by foreign investors.

Dačić said that Serbia has 71 honorary consuls in 51 countries.

The Federation, which is seated in Brussels, was established in 1982, FICAC President Arnold Foote from Jamaica said, adding that it brings together over 90 member states and associate members and over 7,000 consuls and it is recognized by the UN, the EU and the Organization of American States.

One of FICAC's main assignments is development and promotion of trade and cross-border business, Foote said.

FICAC Regional Director for South East Europe Marko Smole told Tanjug that the Serbian consular corps joined the Federation four years ago, adding that the Belgrade conference May 8-11 is the largest conference in the region in the last few years, whose goal is to outline new guidelines for the Federation's development in the world and region.