BELGRADE, January 5. /TASS/. The European Union views Serbia not as a future full-fledged member, but as a source of labor and potential military personnel for the Ukrainian conflict, former Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said in an interview with TASS.

"The European Union has no intention of expanding into the Western Balkans. We are not needed as EU members. We are needed as a market, as a source of labor, and now they have found a new ‘use value’ for us — as infantry," Vulin said. "We are needed as infantry and as sappers on the Ukrainian frontlines. That’s why we are needed, not as full members of the European Union," he added.

Vulin also said that the most recent EU-Western Balkans summit, which Serbia did not attend, was aimed at containing Belgrade. "All the countries that attended that summit took part in a meeting which purpose was to restrain and surround Serbia. This was a summit because of Serbia and against Serbia," he said, welcoming Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s decision not to attend.

"I would like this to be a signal that Serbia will change its policy toward the European Union. There is no place for Serbia at a summit where it is being asked to recognize Kosovo and impose sanctions on Russia. That is not in our interest," Vulin added.

Prospects for EU enlargement

Speaking about EU enlargement, Aleksandar Vulin questioned the sincerity of Brussels’ statements about reforms and the rule of law. "The European Union always talks about reforms and the rule of law, and then says that Moldova and Ukraine - two of the most corrupt countries in Europe - will be admitted without any reforms," he said.

In his view, the current path to EU membership is through participation in the war in Ukraine. "Today, the road to the European Union leads through the Ukrainian battlefield. Reforms mean selling ammunition to Ukraine. Rule of law means handing over the defense industry to the EU," the former deputy prime minister said.

Vulin also voiced skepticism about Ukraine’s prospects for joining the bloc in the near future. "How can you admit a country that does not know where its borders are or a country in a conflict? We were told that Serbia could not be admitted because of Kosovo. I do not believe this will happen quickly, but the European Union is fighting the war to the last Ukrainian. And what does it cost them to lie and promise Ukrainians that they will be admitted someday?" he noted.

"The EU has no desire to expand, no desire to accept the Western Balkans as full-fledged members of its community. What it needs is a market, and now it also needs space for migrants it wants to get rid of. Now it also needs infantry, armies, tanks and ammunition produced by Western Balkan countries," Vulin concluded.