Germany and the European Union expect Serbia to soon join the sanctions against Russia.

This was stated by the German Ambassador to Serbia, Thomas Schib, on the air of the N1 TV channel.

“The EU is a community of values.

We have common values, a common foreign policy, and the issue of joining the EU sanctions is connected with this, ”the German diplomat explained.

He added that the further progress of Serbia in the issue of European integration will depend on joining the sanctions.

“Everything is in the hands of Serbia.

The process of European integration was designed to ensure that the candidate countries carry out reforms to achieve EU membership as soon as possible.

Germany supports Serbia on this path.

The sooner it comes into line with the common foreign and security policy, the faster it will move towards EU accession, and we fully support Serbia in this,” Thomas Schib said.

According to the German diplomat, Berlin wants to "provide support to Serbia, understanding what liberation from energy dependence means."

In turn, the head of the EU delegation to Serbia, Emanuele Zofre, whose words are also quoted by the N1 TV channel, stressed that the candidate countries for joining the European Union should gradually come into line with the common foreign and security policy of the EU.

As Jofre said, the European Commission plans to discuss new sanctions against Russia and the EU “wants Serbia to participate in the process, since it is an important partner, there is a continuous dialogue with its authorities.”

Principled position

Earlier, at the end of March, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic criticized the position of the European Union, which requires Belgrade to join the sanctions against Moscow, but at the same time makes an exception for itself with regard to Russian energy resources.

Restrictions against the Russian Federation will primarily have a negative impact on Serbia itself, Vučić stressed.

At the same time, the president of the republic did not rule out that the EU could impose sanctions against Belgrade itself for refusing to join broad anti-Russian restrictive measures.

At the same time, according to Vučić, the republic's unwillingness to participate in Europe's sanctions pressure on Russia is directly related to the country's economic interests.

  • Alexander Vucic

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Due to the unwillingness to follow the sanctions rhetoric, Belgrade has faced significant political pressure from the EU.

So, on April 7, Vucic said that due to blackmail from the West, the Serbian side had to vote to suspend Russia's membership in the UN Human Rights Council.

“Serbia is the only country in Europe that has not imposed sanctions against Russia.

As for today's vote, our initial decision was to abstain, and then you get a lot of pressure that has nothing to do with personal pressure.

Nobody said: “You can’t be president”, they don’t blackmail me personally, but blackmail Serbia,” Vučić was quoted as saying by TASS.

Russia-friendly countries were forced to take such a step, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia, commenting on this incident.

“It is a matter of understanding that difficult situation, that unprecedented pressure and, I would say, forcing Russophobia.

All the countries that are trying to take at least some balanced position are experiencing all this.

We understand this,” the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.

In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Moscow had recorded a statement by Serbian politicians that Belgrade was under pressure.

The diplomat added that the Russian side proceeds from the fact that the traditional partners of the Russian Federation will adhere to positions that reflect their true friendship and true national interests.

pressure levers

Despite the pressure, Serbia continues to defend its position on the issue of imposing sanctions against Russia.

Thus, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country, Alexander Vulin, said that President Vucic is not going to change his position on issues of principle for the country.

The statement of the German ambassador to Serbia about the need to soon join the sanctions against Russia completely disavows the EU's claims that it is a commonwealth of democratic states, said Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

  • European Commission

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“There are no European democratic norms anymore.

There is no European democracy.

She was, but she died quite recently before our eyes, ”the political scientist explained in a commentary to RT.

In addition, the words of the German diplomat acquire a double meaning in the historical context of relations between Germany and Serbia, added Nikolai Mezhevich.

“Serbia remembers very well 1914, when German and Austro-Hungarian troops attacked it.

They also remember 1941, when the Germans attacked Yugoslavia and occupied it.

So the Germans in Belgrade are well known.

Finally, Germany contributed to the destruction of Yugoslavia and the bombing of Belgrade already in our memory, in the 1990s.

Therefore, German politicians should not make such statements, ”the expert believes.

The European Union sees that the language of ultimatums and sanctions does not work with Russia itself, so it is trying to put pressure on its allies, who are more susceptible to restrictive economic measures, the political scientist added.

“The only thing left for Berlin and Brussels to raise their own shattered authority is to put economic pressure on Serbia.

This is what we are seeing,” Mezhevich said.

In turn, Pavel Kandel, a leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in a conversation with RT, noted that the words of the German ambassador and the EU representative in Belgrade can only be regarded as an attempt to put pressure on a sovereign state.

“This is, of course, a frank attempt at pressure.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made similar statements.

This is cumulative pressure from the EU, not just Germany.

But Berlin plays an important role here, since Germany is the largest economy in the EU and the largest investor in Serbia.

So she has effective leverage,” the political scientist said.

Serbia voted against Russia in the UN, which can be regarded as a clear gesture towards the EU, but Brussels actually threatened Belgrade with a complete oil blockade, Pavel Kandel explained.

“On the eve of the vote, there were reports that oil supplies to Serbia from Croatia would be stopped, and it is from there that it receives almost all of its oil.

This would actually mean an oil blockade of Serbia with all the consequences.

But after the vote of Serbia, as expected from it in Brussels and Berlin, it turned out that oil supplies through this pipeline would continue, ”the political scientist noted.

Recently, general elections were held in Serbia - a national assembly and a president were elected - and now we can expect that pressure on Belgrade will increase after a new government of the republic is formed, Pavel Kandel believes. 

“Brussels, Berlin, Washington and other capitals fear that Russia's influence in the Balkans in general, and in Serbia in particular, will increase and thereby weaken the republic's desire to join the EU.

Therefore, they want to stake out a strategic crossroads for themselves, including through such by no means democratic methods, ”the expert concluded.