BELGRADE, November 10. /TASS/. It is a priority for Serbia to join the European Union although it doesn’t plant to join NATO, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic said on Wednesday.

"Serbia’s foreign policy priority is membership in the European Union, and its strategic priority is military neutrality, which is no obstacle for its cooperation with NATO. However, Serbia has no ambition to be a member of this alliance," the Serbian defense ministry quoted him as saying at a meeting with new NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Javier Colomina Piriz.

The Serbian defense minister noted that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija gives grounds for serious concern. The current crisis, in his words, has been provoked by Pristina’s non-implementation of the Brussels agreement as it failed to implement its only obligation - the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities.

Serbia’s foreign policy course is to join the European Union, concurrently preserving friendly relations with Russia and China, as well as to develop ties with the United States. Belgrade intends to stay militarily neutral and refuse from entering NATO and other military political blocs.

The West however objects against this position and insists that the European integration is only possible on two conditions: the recognition of Kosovo’s independence and severance of friendly relations with Russia. Apart from that, in recent years, the West has been rebuking Serbia for close cooperation with China.