Serbia seeks EU membership, but will not join anti-Russian sanctions - ambassador
MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Serbia will not join the European Union's sanctions targeting Russia, Serbia's Ambassador to Moscow Slavenko Terzic has said.
"Given our historical circumstances and our friendship, we cannot and do not want to join these sanctions. The leadership of Serbia has already made it absolutely clear that we will not support any sanctions against the Russian Federation," he said at a press conference in Moscow on Friday.
"Sanctions are an anachronistic instrument," the diplomat said.
Serbia is hopeful that possible negotiations between Russia and the European Union will result in these sanctions being lifted, he added.
Terzic, however, reaffirmed Serbia's intention to seek EU membership, describing the question of whether or not Serbia would be ready to abandon its EU ambitions in favor of sanctions-free relations with Russia as "hypothetical".
The European Union helps its member countries suffering from Russia's retaliatory measures, but Belgrade would not be entitled to such assistance because Serbia is not an EU member, the diplomat said.
