Officials instructed not to vote against Russia

Officials instructed not to vote against Russia

According to the daily Večernje Novosti, unofficial signals from Brussels show that the pressure on Serbia to follow EU's policy towards Ukraine and impose sanctions against Russia will continue, especially with the progress in the country's integration bid, "but our state leadership is determined not to deviate from the set course of neutrality," according to the newspaper.

EU may punish Serbia by prolonging the opening of the first negotiating chapters, but the minister without portfolio in charge of EU integration, Jadranka Joksimović, believes that "member states will be sensitive to the specific position of Serbia and that there will not be consequences for our European integration processes."

Aleksandar Senić, who heads the parliamentary committee on EU integration, also told the daily he thinks "the only measure of the pace of our European road should be the speed and quality of reforms."

"Until now there has been no indication that there will be a slowdown in our integration," said Senić.

Members of the Serbian parliament will be "under increased fire" in many European institutions - the Council of Europe, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the OSCE, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Cooperation.

"They passed the first test in the Process of Cooperation in Southeastern Europe (SEECP)," Večernje Novosti said.

Veroljub Arsić headed Serbia's delegation at the organization's recent meeting and said that the Serbian lawmakers "did not support the statement on the crisis in Ukraine, due to the controversial wording about 'annexation of Crimea,' but did not block its adoption either."

"In the future we will be very careful with all initiatives in international organizations and forums, that are inconsistent with our state policy," he said.

The head of the Serbian delegation to PACE, Aleksandra Đurović, told the paper that she expected this institution will in the future continue to deal with the events in Ukraine, but added that our representatives would "consistently defend Serbia's position and follow the state policy."