BELGRADE, July 3. /TASS/. Serbia is used to double standards practiced by the West in its respect, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday during a joint news conference with Prime ministers Mark Rutte of the Netherlands and Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg.
"At the end of the 20th century, Serbia was brutally attacked by NATO, by 19 countries. Let me recall that it was not done under a UN Security Council resolution. But, naturally, you have a different interpretation. It is something we have grown used to. I think that we should speak to each other to understand each other better," he said.
When asked to comment on parallels between the EU’s criticism following the crackdown on anti-Covid demonstrations in Serbia and the lack of such rhetoric about the ongoing riots in France, Vucic said, "As for the French, if you mean to say ho they criticized us although we use much less force." "Well, these are double standards, which we are used tox. This did not begin yesterday, not even the day before yesterday. It has always been this way," he stressed.
Nevertheless, the Serbian leader expressed support for the French authorities and said that he hopes the riots will soon be ended.
Unrest broke out in France on June 27 after police shot dead a 17-year-old driver of Algerian origin in the Paris suburb of Nanterre after he failed to comply with an order to stop his car. The police officer who shot and killed the teenager was detained. According to the French interior ministry, some 3,800 cars have been burnt. The rioters attacked government institutions, schools and police stations. According to preliminary data, damage has been done to more than 700 commercial companies in the country.