Serbia can no longer sit on two chairs and not impose restrictions against the Russian Federation, said Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
So he answered the question of journalists whether Zagreb lobbied for a ban on Belgrade from buying Russian oil.
“Everything that was adopted in the EU was adopted jointly, this is the position of all EU members ... In these conditions, Serbia cannot sit on two chairs, cannot be a country that comes here to talk about the European perspective and expects big steps forward, and with does not support any sanctions against Russia,” the Croatian prime minister said on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Prague.
His words are quoted by TASS.
Plenkovic added that now Belgrade will be able to receive any oil via the Adriatic Oil Pipeline (JANAF), except for Russian.
Oil sanctions
On the eve of the European Union approved the eighth package of sanctions against Russia.
It includes the creation of a legislative framework for setting a price ceiling for Russian oil and further restrictions on the maritime transport of crude oil and petroleum products to third countries.
This package of measures was actively supported by Croatia, where the port of Omišalj is located on the island of Krk in the Adriatic Sea with a terminal for receiving tankers with oil and oil products - from here the raw materials are sent via the JANAF pipeline to Serbia.
In Belgrade, the adoption of a new package of restrictions was perceived very painfully.
So, the head of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Alexander Vulin, said that he became "the first package of sanctions against Serbia."
“The EU, in which our fate is decided by an increasingly less successful and more and more dirty Croatia, is the place of our future humiliation and suffering.
Therefore, it is better to be both a military and politically neutral country than a member of a club where Croatian complexes and revenge will be the law and the rule.
The EU, at the suggestion of the Ustashe, introduced not the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, but the first package of sanctions against Serbia, vile and surreptitiously, as soon as the Ustashe know how, ”RIA Novosti quotes him.
Also on russian.rt.com “The ultimatum is doomed to failure”: how the EU puts pressure on Serbia and insists on imposing anti-Russian sanctions
In turn, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic promised a tough response from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who has already stated that he is not surprised by the behavior of Croatia, which has been pursuing an anti-Serb policy since 1941.
dual position
The Serbian leader, like other politicians of the country, has repeatedly noted recently that Belgrade is under strong political pressure from the EU, which demands joining the anti-Russian sanctions.
In early April, Serbia voted to suspend Russia's membership in the UN Human Rights Council.
Then Vučić explained this by the fact that “huge pressure” was exerted on the country.
At the same time, German Ambassador to Serbia Thomas Schib said that Germany and the European Union expect Belgrade to soon join the restrictions against Russia.
He added that further progress in the field of European integration of the republic will depend on the position of the country on this issue.
And the head of the EU delegation to Serbia, Emanuele Jofre, said that candidate states for accession to the European Union should gradually come into line with its common foreign and security policy.
Recall that Serbia officially became a candidate for EU membership in 2012, and accession negotiations opened in 2014.
In May 2022, Vučić said that Belgrade would continue its course towards European integration, even though the majority of the country's citizens oppose it.
Later, the president of the republic said that Serbia was paying a "huge" price because of its unwillingness to join the restrictions on Russia.
According to him, the country's authorities will resist this as much as they can, since Belgrade pursues an independent foreign policy.
At the same time, Vucic expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin is appealing to the precedent of the self-proclaimed Kosovo in the context of discussing the right of residents of the east and south of Ukraine to self-determination.
European Commission
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© Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto
Recall that the Serbian Foreign Ministry at the end of September stated that the country's authorities do not recognize the results of referendums in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
“On the one hand, our fundamental commitment to the principles of international law, the UN Charter, and on the other hand, this would be completely opposite to our state and national interests, this would be contrary to our policy of maintaining territorial integrity and sovereignty and the principle of inviolability of borders,” the head of the department explained. Nikola Selakovich.
"Compromise Policy"
Experts explain the position of Croatia, which supports anti-Russian sanctions, realizing that they will also hit Serbia, with "historical hostility" to the neighboring republic.
“The statement that one cannot sit on two chairs is an attack on the part of a country that is historically opposed to Serbia.
In fact, this is the only opportunity for Belgrade to continue to pursue a policy of neutrality, getting the maximum benefit from such a course, ”said Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Policy Foundation, in a conversation with RT.
At the same time, he expressed doubt that Serbia has real prospects for European integration due to a number of other political issues, in addition to anti-Russian sanctions.
“The interest of the EU is clear and what it wants to get from Serbia, but why Belgrade needs it and what bonuses it will receive if it imposes sanctions against Moscow is not at all clear,” the analyst argues.
Demonstration in Belgrade
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© Milos Miskov/Anadolu Agency
In turn, MGIMO professor Elena Ponomareva believes that Croatia's position on new sanctions against the Russian Federation and their impact on Serbia is quite understandable.
“The position of Zagreb is not at all surprising, because Croatia and Serbia are historical antagonists.
These two countries separated the events of World War II and the destruction of Yugoslavia, which was accompanied by ethnic cleansing.
Therefore, Croatia will try in every possible way to harm Serbia, humiliate it, do everything so that this country suffers some damage, ”the political scientist explained.
She also considers Alexander Vulin's assessment fair that the eighth package of restrictions against Russia also became the "first package of sanctions against Serbia" and that they cannot but affect the country's economy and social climate.
According to her, such pressure on Belgrade is a form of blackmail by the EU.
“For more than 20 years, Europe has been speculating on the issue of Serbia joining the union, and each time the blackmail is replenished with increasingly harsh and vile demands from a moral and ethical point of view.
Now Brussels wants Belgrade to simply betray Russia, which has done a lot for it in the international arena, including economic support,” the analyst said.
At the same time, she doubts that even if Belgrade joins the sanctions against Russia, Serbia will be accepted into the EU.
“Naturally, this requires a compromise policy, because it depends on whether the Serbs will buy bread and heat their homes.
At the same time, Vučić cannot nullify Serbia's relations with Russia, as well as his own relations with Vladimir Putin.
His position is not easy, but nevertheless Belgrade remains Moscow’s ally in Europe, ”concluded Ponomareva.