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Serbia not planning to join NATO, foreign minister says

Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic put forward the idea of adopting a declaration on the country’s military and political neutrality

© AP Photo/Susan Walsh

BELGRADE, December 3. /TASS/. Serbia has no plans of becoming a NATO member-state since the overwhelming majority of citizens opposes this idea, Serbian Foreign Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic told TASS ahead of the Serbian president’s visit to Russia.

"As for NATO membership, Serbia has a very clear position here. We don’t want to become a member of the alliance and the overwhelming majority of our citizens does not want this either. Both Serbia and NATO are satisfied by the current level of cooperation, which is very good and is constantly developing. But we don’t have any ambitions of turning it into a permanent membership. As you know, Serbia sticks to military neutrality policy, which implies not being part of any international military alliances," the minister stressed.

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Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic put forward the idea of adopting a declaration on the country’s military and political neutrality. The document is expected to be passed by February 15, 2020. President Vucic said however that no exact date could be announced because parliamentary procedures could not always be predicted.

Serbia’s foreign policy envisages maintaining friendly relations with Russia and China, and fostering ties with the European Union and the United States. Belgrade plans to keep military neutrality, refusing to join NATO and other military alliances. Meanwhile, the West opposes this position, hinting that Serbia’s EU integration is possible only provided that two conditions are met: recognizing Kosovo’s independence and terminating friendly ties with Russia.

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