BELGRADE, November 10. /TASS/. Serbia maintains friendly relations with Russia and China and it is not going to make any apologies for this to anyone, President Aleksandar Vucic told the media on Wednesday.
"I am proud of the policy we are conducting. Possibly, we are one of the rare independent countries in this part of Europe. In our country, nobody else but ourselves can decide what political and economic steps we should take. Only this policy can give our people freedom and preserve peace. When some do not know what to say about the Serbs, they say: ‘They are linked with the Russians and the Chinese.’ Presumably, we are expected to apologize for this. But I am not going to apologize to anyone. Independent Serbia is on the European track and at the same time it respects its Russian friends, its Chinese friends, its American friends and everybody else," Vucic said.
Vucic addressed claims by the president of unrecognized Kosovo Vjosa Osmani to the effect Serbia was a tool in the hands of Russia being used for destabilizing Kosovo and the Balkans: "This is so foolish, that I am lost for words. We are proud of our independence. We are not a tool of Russia or anybody else - not the US, not the EU - we are an independent country," he said.
Serbia’s foreign policy envisages accession to the European Union in combination with preserving friendly relations with Moscow and Beijing and the development of relations with Washington. Belgrade is determined to stay military neutral and refrain from joining NATO or other military alliances. This stance draws criticism from the West. Serbia has been told more than once that euro-integration is only possible if two basic conditions are complied with - the recognition of Kosovo’s independence and termination of friendly relations with Russia. In recent years the West often reproached Serbia for cooperation with China.