"Serbia learned not to have enemies among big countries"

"Serbia learned not to have enemies among big countries"

"Serbia will continue in the same manner. I hope that we will never opt for either side, especially if there are conflicts which, God forbid, could end badly for Serbia. Serbia has no place in wars, because it seems to me, it has nothing left to lose," he told reporters in Liege.

Nikolić added that Serbia, after the great wars of the 20th century, "learned that it had no more life to waste, and lost much in both wars although it fought on the right side."

"But after the wars it somehow happened that our allies helped both their and our enemies to overcome the post-war crisis faster than we did, even though we did not joined any block which would be a nuisance to the other," Nikolić said.

Speaking about the event in Belgium, Nikolić said that it was a symbolic effort of European countries to mark the start of the Great War as a tragedy that should not have repeated in 1939.

"Belgium then suffered as a neutral country which is historically much linked to Serbia," Nikolić said.

He added that some speakers pointed out that this is a time when warnings should he drawn, as today there are some hot spots in the world, but added that he was "not certain that some of those (hot spots) have not been caused by them."

According to Nikolić, the danger of "something happening today like during the time of the outbreak of the First or Second World War" is lesser, but added that "caution never hurts, especially in people who represent small states and small nations."

"Some of the speakers mentioned participants in the First World War, but did not mention Serbia, Montenegro, nor Russia, so I was deprived of a complete marking of the beginning of a war that should not have happened, and that should serve as a warning that war should never happen again," Nikolić said.

The Serbian president was in Liege on Monday along with heads of more than 80 countries taking part in a ceremony marking the 100the anniversary of the German attack on Belgium.

Nikolić laid wreaths at a monument to Belgian King Albert I, and at the graves of five Serbian soldiers who "helped the strong resistance of Belgian units against German aggressors." "