Serbia under "impermissible" pressure over Russia policy

Serbia under "impermissible" pressure over Russia policy

In reference to the 1999 NATO air strikes, Vulin added that "the bombing of Serbia was also impermissible, but it happened."

"We are carefully monitoring everything that is happening on the global plane, we are not ruling out new pressure. But, we respond to all that by adhering to Serbia's interests," he said, and added that "Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says the same in Brussels and other capitals that he does in Belgrade - we are going toward the EU, we are not imposing sanctions on Russia."

"I think our partners both from the East and from the West respect our positions," Vulin said.

Asked "whether there are any new conditions when it comes to Kosovo," and "will we, if that continues, give up on our European road," Vulin said it is "a fact there exists a policy where something new is cropping up all the time, asked of us, interpreted differently."

"Is that a reason to redefine our foreign policy - at this moment that's a question difficult to answer," Vulin was quoted as saying.

When the interviewer noted that he was "criticized in Croatia of opening up new wars" after the polemic between him and officials of that country, Vulin asked: "What sort of relations between countries would those be if two statements could damage them?"

"This government tells the truth and won't let Serbia be lectured," Vulin told the daily, and added:

"We never start first. And I want to be told what's not true about my statement. Have 250,000 people not been expelled (from Croatia)? And did I wish prosperity and all the best to Croatia - I did. Their response was - go get treatment. By this they show they are the source of unrest, not me."

Asked "how he interpreted it," the minister replied:

"By us getting used to apologizing, behaving as if we're always to blame for everything. For years we have had political and intellectual elites that always apologized to somebody and, to make an artificial comparison - if there are extremists in Croatia, there are automatically some in Serbia as well."