"South Stream in our interest, Serbia no big player"

"South Stream in our interest, Serbia no big player"

In this context, Vučić said he believed the project was important not only for Russia but also for Europe, and that he "hoped reason will prevail and that everyone will understand that they must work together and let go of passions and tension."

"Serbia will protect its interests, and Serbia believes that South Stream is in its interest. However, we certainly are not the biggest player and we cannot decide about the biggest and most important issues," Vučić told reporters on Wednesday.

He said that South Stream important for Europe as well because, as he said, "the story that Europe will in a year or two get gas supplies from American shale or in another way are fairytale-like."

Vučić said that any further negative developments in Ukraine would be bad for the people of Russia and Ukraine, "and quite certainly would not be good for Serbia, either."

"Agents"

The European Union is "close to freezing plans to complete the USD 50 billion South Stream gas pipeline through the Black Sea from Russia," said a report published on the website of the British daily Telegraph.

According to the article, evidence for this is in "key details leaked from a briefing" by EC President Jose Manuel Barroso to Bulgarian politicians.

The EU-member state was reportedly "warned not to stand in the way of the EU’s tough new line on the project, or attempt to undercut a unified EU response over Ukraine."

“We are telling Bulgaria to be very careful,” he said, according to reports in Bulgaria’s media quoted by the British daily.

Barroso was also quoted as saying that there are “people in Bulgaria who are agents of Russia," - apparently "a reference to figures in the ruling Socialist party who have been trying to clinch a bilateral deal with the Kremlin."