Serbia "not sitting on two chairs" - FM

Serbia "not sitting on two chairs" - FM

Dacic said that there was no doubt that Serbia had and would continue to have friendly relations with Russia, which was one of its foreign policy priorities, but that EU membership was its strategic goal in terms of the overall direction in which the country was heading.

"Everyone knows that we are friends with Russia and that we will not vote to to have sanctions introduced against it, but Russia also knows that we are heading to the EU, and, when it comes to Ukraine, everyone knows we have principles that we need to put into practice as the OSCE chair," the minister said.

"In this regard we have no disagreement with Russia nor is there some kind of pressure on us," Dacic said and pointed out that "everyone has their own interests, but Serbia has its own stance and that stance is valued."

On the subject of his visit to New York last week, Dacic said U.S. State Secretary John Kerry had voiced his satisfaction with "Serbia's increasingly important role and the results achieved in regional cooperation and the progress in talks with Pristina in Brussels."

In response to his statement that Serbia "is in the line of fire" between Russia and the West, the minister said that he had "directed Kerry's attention to the fact that the West sometimes cultivated an oversimplified view on the situation in Serbia and its international position."

According to Dacic, "Kerry did not mean to say anything bad, but was only mentioning those countries that could find themselves under that pressure."

Dacic added that he and Kerry did not discuss a possible visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Serbia, adding that "a visit would be very important to relations between the two countries." Kerry backed Serbia as the the OSCE's chairing nation, "and clearly said that the U.S. was not seeking a confrontation with Russia, but a de-escalation of the conflict in Ukraine," Dacic said.

The main priority of the OSCE in March will be to negotiate an extension of its mission deployed in Ukraine, which expires at the end of March, he said, adding that all parties agree that a new mandate should last 12 instead of six months.

Dacic said he would consult with EU foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini "about the possibility of EU's support to OSCE's Ukraine mission," and that they would talk when foreign ministers of EU member and candidate states meet on March 6 and 7.

Speaking about Serbia's negotiations to join the organization, Dacic said he expects the screening of all chapters to be finished by the end of March, "after which a report will be submitted and a decision made about opening chapters."

He said he would visit Zagreb on March 11 at the invitation of his Croatian counterpart "in order to make a step forward in building better relations regardless of our differences."

Dacic stressed he was "not interested in political tourism" and that the meetings and conversations he recently had with, among others, foreign ministers of Russia, China, and the United States, "show that the international position of Serbia has completely changed and this is an opportunity that should not be missed."

He added that meetings with officials of the African Union are also important "because more than half of these countries have not recognized Kosovo, and also because of the economic interests that our country has in that region."

Dacic added that his talks with ministers of UN Security Council member-states "have significance if one bears in mind that maybe tomorrow a topic that is not the OSCE will be put up for a vote in the UN Security Council, such as the issue of Kosovo."

During the news conference, the foreign minister also announced that he and Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic would be visiting NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 18 "concerning the individual action plan of partnership agreement."

"The government adopted a document on December 20 and the NATO Council adopted it on January 15, whereby the adoption procedure was finalized," he said, according to Tanjug.

"This document elevates relations to a higher level, the highest possible level between ATO and a country that does not want to become its member," Dacic said, and added he and Gasic would meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.