BELGRADE, January 6. /TASS/. The European Union is demanding that Serbia betray Russia as a condition for continuing its European integration, while offering Belgrade no tangible benefits in return, former Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said in an interview with TASS.
"The European Union is using every means of pressure to force Serbia not simply to make a choice — because this is not a real choice — but to betray Russia," he stressed.
"This is not about choosing between two sides. Russia is making no proposals to us, and the European Union is making no proposals to us either. The European Union is demanding that we betray Russia, while Russia is demanding nothing from us. The European Union is making demands of us — and this shows what the European Union truly is: a deeply hypocritical, profoundly anti-Serbian organization," Vulin said.
The Serbian politician placed particular emphasis on the EU’s demand that Serbia impose sanctions on Russia. According to him, such measures would cause no damage to Moscow, unlike the harm they would inflict on Belgrade. "Would these sanctions harm Russia? Not at all. Russia would neither feel nor even notice that we imposed sanctions. But would this lead to the destruction of the Serbian economy, to a split within Serbian society, to the emergence of serious political conflicts of historical significance, to a complete transformation of the state of the nation? Yes, it would," he said.
He expressed confidence that the true target of the EU’s policy is not Russia, but Serbia. "You are not waging war against Russia through Serbia — you are waging war against Serbia. You want to destroy Serbia, and the current situation is merely a convenient pretext for that," the former deputy prime minister stressed.
According to him, the price that Brussels is demanding in exchange for continuing European integration is unacceptable for Serbia. "The price of conflict <…> is too high — regardless of whatever promises may be made to us," Vulin concluded.