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Serbia to rethink its position on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, says Vucic

Serbia used to condemn the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity at all international venues before

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

BELGRADE, April 25. /TASS/. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic pledged on Tuesday a revision of his country’s attitude toward Ukraine following yesterday’s vote on Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe.

"If there is someone who ignores the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia, why should we respect their territorial integrity? <...> Why should we rush to protect someone else’s territorial integrity, while we can remain silent, since those people are clearly against Serbia’s territorial integrity?" the Serbian leader wondered, as he addressed the nation in the wake of the voting. When asked to comment on Ukraine’s position at the voting, he said, "This is very important, and there will be major changes in our policy course - not tectonic, but deep and thorough ones."

However, this does not mean that Serbia will deviate from international law or the UN Charter, Vucic said, but voting at a Council of Europe summit to be held in Reykjavik on May 16-17, "where everybody will have to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Moldova," may now take a different path, he warned.

"Abstaining from the vote [on Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe] yesterday was equal to the recognition of Kosovo," Vucic said. He noted that Ukraine had requested a break ahead of the voting for consultations with US officials.

Serbia used to condemn the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity at all international venues before.

On Monday, a special meeting of a ministerial committee accepted Pristina’s bid to join the Council of Europe. The application was forwarded for consideration to the organization’s Parliamentary Assembly.

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