Vucic: Europe not concerned over Russia sanctions but over my position on Europe

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday evening Serbia was not giving up on the European path and that Europe was not concerned over what Serbia had done or not, but over his position and over whether he believed in a European future.

Vucic said this on Pink TV, when asked to comment on reports by Western media outlets about whether last week's visit to Belgrade by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signalled a change of Serbia's position on imposing sanctions on Russia.

"Europe is not concerned over what Serbia is really doing or not - and it has done much towards approximating to the EU single market and we will confirm this through government decisions in early August to become the first country to accept everything in line with the very difficult path that must be completed. That is not what they are worried about, and this is not about their reports that we are Russian agents - they are unsure about whether I believe in a European future because they think we would finish sooner if I was pushing for that," Vucic said.

It is important that Serbia delivers on its reform tasks, Vucic said, noting that he was heading an independent and sovereign country that had interests in various parts of the world but was not giving up on the European path.

"If my view of the situation in Ukraine is different, that does not mean we are enemies," he said.