Lavrov's reaction: Unprecedented and to be precise, as far as Serbia is concerned...

Lavrov's reaction: Unprecedented and to be precise, as far as Serbia is concerned...

At an extraordinary press conference convened instead of traveling to Belgrade, Lavrov said that this was a policy of double standards. "They will say that the EU and NATO told them that, and NATO and the EU will say that those countries decide for themselves," Lavrov said.

"It should be clear to you, the main thing is that no one, I repeat, no one will manage to destroy our relations with Serbia," Lavrov said, adding that he invited Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia to visit Moscow.

"Something unthinkable has happened. This is a disturbing action. The sovereign state has been deprived of the right to pursue its own foreign policy by enforcing the rights it has. It is a demonstration of how far NATO and the EU can go in using the harshest means and influence against those guided by national interests and not ready to sacrifice their dignity for the sake of these rules imposed by the West. The visit of the Minister of Russia to the West is perceived as a large-scale threat", Lavrov said at an extraordinary press conference in Moscow.

By doing so, the West is making it clear to Russia that it will continue to put pressure on Moscow, without resorting to any means, Lavrov said, adding that he was not surprised by the West's cynicism. "We have seen similar hypocrisy before, including during the bombing of Yugoslavia," Lavrov said.

He said that the reasons for postponing the visit to Belgrade were analyzed by the media in Serbia and the region, i.e. Croatia, and one was that "Lavrov is persona non grata and that Lavrov should have overtaken Scholz, who is also coming to Belgrade. I leave that to the conscience of those analysts because it is humiliating".

According to him, the talks in Serbia were supposed to be of a wider spectrum, and there was also talk of the so-called Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. "Brussels puppeteers did not want to give Russia a platform in Belgrade for Moscow to express its position on a number of regional issues, to discuss the position of Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Serbian capital. Obviously they did not want us to support Belgrade and their open Balkans initiative, to improve relations in the region. It is now clear that NATO and Brussels want to turn the Balkans into their "Closed Balkans" project, he said.

"They are more and more afraid of the truth, they are more and more trying to go to some fake reality that they fill through social networks. They have completely excluded all alternative media. If such a choice is made, and I have no doubt it is, Brussels decides that it will decide the fate of all European countries. This shows once again how much the status of a candidate for EU membership costs. The explanation is simple: the candidates are obliged to unquestioningly follow the EU's security policy in the preparatory stage, which is ultimately anti-Russian. This is what awaits countries that are trying to find a balance of interest", Lavrov said.

According to him, politics today is focused on the anti-Russian direction, and he also reminded of the "war-mongering" statement of Josep Borrell.

"This policy is concentrated on the anti-Russian direction. We appreciate the courageous position taken by Serbia and personally by President Vučić, who emphasizes that he will not engage in anti-Russian activities, but the European Union wants all candidates to take on Russophobic obligations," Lavrov said.

Lavrov asked what kind of security they strengthened in Montenegro and North Macedonia, saying that he felt sorry for those friendly peoples. At the same time, he said that Russia will never undertake anything that further complicates relations between nations. They are dealing with that in the West, Lavrov emphasized.

He added that Moscow has not yet heard the official explanations of the countries that refused to allow the flight of the Russian delegation's plane.

"I know that there will be many explanations that we have not heard yet. Countries that refused to allow the overflight of the Russian plane will say that they were ordered to do so in order to join the EU and NATO. They, for their part, will say that those countries made independent decisions. It is clear to you how much NATO membership costs Montenegro and North Macedonia and why NATO needs such countries - to maintain anti-Russian policies and threats, to be their bases for such policies," Lavrov added.

He then said that several ceremonies and meetings were supposed to be held in Belgrade, and one of them was to sign the book of condolences to the Liberators of Belgrade, and that he intended to dedicate the message he delivered to all citizens of Serbia.

Бочне табле

EU policy in the Balkans and Ukraine is the same

"America can now say, and it works that way, that Belgrade is a threat to their security, so they are bombing it, just as they said that Iraq is a threat to them, so they bombed it, as they said about Libya, which is like and Iraq thousands of miles away. This is a threat to their security, and our explanation is clear, repeated a long time ago, it all happened on our border, this with Ukraine, not far away, but all our warnings especially to NATO which approached the Russian border. All that was ignored", Russian foreign minister said.

It is also true that the West is now applauding Ukraine, and forgetting everything that Russia warned about, and sending them weapons. "We no longer had a choice and I have already explained all that, now I just remind you," he added.

"But you know, the EU policy in the Balkans and the EU line in Ukraine are essentially the same, only those who limit Serbia's interests are supported in the Balkans, and those who declared war on everything Russian are supported in Ukraine," Lavrov pointed out.

He then compared the behavior of the EU when it comes to the agreements reached where the EU was the mediator for Kosovo and the mine regulation for Ukraine.

"Brussels has solemnly promised to support a special status for both northern Kosovo and Donbas, which would allow Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to speak Serbian and Russians in Donbas to speak Russian, which are identical agreements on the rights of national minorities. In both cases, the EU has experienced a disgraceful failure", he said.

When asked by the BBC to comment on the position that Britain would not have delivered rocket launchers to Ukraine if Russia had not attacked Ukraine, Lavrov said at the press conference that it was not "about something that would not have happened if it had not been for something else".

"It is about the fact that we have been warning for 20 years that you signed in 1990 that no one will strengthen their security at the expense of others. Why can't you respect what your representatives and all OSCE members signed?" Lavrov asked.

He said that the West was approaching Russia's borders five times, and asked when they had been building the line of defense after the Warsaw Pact disappeared.

He pointed out that the Americans are now making the next line of defense in the South China Sea.

"You are committing lawlessness far from your borders. I understand that London is nostalgic for the British Empire, which is far behind," Lavrov said ironically. He accused the West of destroying countries such as Iraq, Syria and others.

"If English were to be abolished in neighboring Ireland, or French in Belgium, how would Europe look at it? I will not even develop that idea. And Europe watched calmly as the Russian language was banned in Ukraine," he said.

Lavrov pointed out that the Russians in Ukraine had been facing bombing for eight years by the regime that glorified Nazism.