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Quarrelling with friends for sake of joining EU is suicidal for Serbia — FM

Asked whether Serbia’s participation in the Slavic Brotherhood - 2015 airborne exercises could impact the country’s European path, Dacic replied that Serbia has not heard a single objection from NATO

© EPA/JULIEN WARNAND

BELGRADE, September 2 /TASS/. Quarreling with traditional friends for the sake of joining the European Union or any other blocs or organizations would be suicidal for Serbia," Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told a news conference in Belgrade on Wednesday.

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"We are not a nation inclinable to suicides, but a nation that wants to maintain good relations with everybody," the Serbian foreign minister explained. Asked whether Serbia’s participation in the Slavic Brotherhood - 2015 airborne exercises, which have got under way in Russia, jointly with the paratroopers from three other countries, including Belarus, could impact the country’s European path, Dacic replied that Serbia has not heard a single objection from NATO.

"As for the European Union, it is not a military bloc and it’s none of its business," the Serbian foreign minister stressed.

"Who can lecture us? The European Union is not a military bloc. Let them mind their own business," Dacic stressed.

"We have every right to cooperate with whom we want. It is our right. Serbia is an independent state," the Serbian minister said. He added that Serbia had taken part in several joint military exercises with Western countries and its military interaction with the West is much broader than with Russia.

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Russian paratroopers for the first time landed in Serbia

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