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Serbia’s bid to join EU unrelated to ties with Russia, says foreign minister

"We will not let turning this bid into an anti-Russian position," Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said

BELGRDE, December 12. /TASS/. Serbia’s bid to join the European Union is unrelated to its relations with Russia, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said at a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

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Serbian PM’s visit to Russia to focus on weapons agreement ― Serbian foreign minister

"I will say once again that our bid to be an EU member state has nothing to do with relations with Russia, and we will not let turning this bid into an anti-Russian position," he said.

"We will continue our cooperation (with Russia) in very different sectors. Economic cooperation, negotiations about unifying this regime. We also have constant interest in new projects and new investment, in increasing our foreign trade exchange, in boosting cooperation in other spheres," he added.

Dacic said mutual visits at the top level continue. "Next year we expect a visit to Serbia by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as well as different visits by our state officials," he said.

"In two years, we will mark 180 years since Russia and Serbia established diplomatic relations," the diplomat said, adding that the two countries have agreed to set up working groups to prepare for celebrations to mark this date.

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