Minister asks EU to say whether they will take refugees

Minister asks EU to say whether they will take refugees

Therefore, Stefanovic continued, the EU "must say whether or not they will accept refugees (from the Middle East)."

"What we expect from the EU is to tell us what the form of good European behavior is - is it what Germany is doing, where refugees are welcomed with medicine and food - or is it the one where they are welcomed with fences, police and tear gas" Stefanovic said, in an apparent reference to the violence at the Hungary-Serbia border on Wednesday.

He added that the EU "needs to say not what the law is, but what the European norm is, what are those European values ​​that Serbia should share."

"We simply want to know what Serbia should do, because this is not an issue that our country alone should be solving," said the minister.

According to him, "the more efficient Europe is in reaching a comprehensive solution, the more quickly this crisis will be solved."

According to Stefanovic,"one set of rules cannot apply to Serbia and another to other countries," while Serbia "cannot accept that as an answer."

The minister added that Serbia has sent Hungary "a protest note because of the tear gas" - but wants to have best possible relations with that county, "this is not (about) a bad relationship between Serbia and Hungary, this is a problem that touches all transit countries."

"Serbia wants to be part of the solution, but does not want to be a collateral victim," stressed Stefanovic.

He added that "our country has biometric data for refugees and is exchanging that date via Eurostat and thus protecting itself against possible terrorism," and that "the stories that refugees are throwing away registration papers as information is taken are not true."

Stefanovic said that "we must strive to establish normal life also for the people of Serbia and in cooperation with everyone protect our safety and security, while providing human and humane treatment to refugees."

"We will not beat them, or throw tear gas, because the time of fighting and breaking heads is over for Serbia," said the minister.

He then "stressed that the work of the police, which has been sent to the border crossing with Hungary, was to explain to refugees that the manner in which they yesterday tried to exercise their rights was not good, that they endangered themselves and others, and that Serbia would not allow it."

"It really paid off, those people retreated and now we do not have that kind of problem," said he.

Stefanovic also told reporters on Thursday he was in contact with his Hungarian counterpart and that Hungary will today and tomorrow allow "a number of women and children" to enter, and that "the pressure of refugees on Horgos 1 and Horgos 2 crossings lessened after those talks."

When asked how many Serbian police officers were sent to the border with Hungary, Stefanovic replied, "enough," without specifying their number.

Asked to comment on Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic's statement that she "does not want the scenes seen in Macedonia, Serbia, or Hungary" in her country, Stefanovic said he "does not know exactly what scenes she had in mind - surely not the scenes of destruction of Cyrillic signs (in Croatia)."

"As far as refugees are concerned, Croatia is a member of the EU and should make arrangements with the EU regarding acceptance and treatment of refugees," he said, adding that Serbia wants good neighborly relations with Croatia.

Stefanovic was in Nis today for a handover ceremony of firefighting vehicles donated by the Russian Federation. The event took place at the headquarters of Serbian-Russian Humanitarian Center.