BELGRADE, April 19. /TASS/. Belgrade should strengthen ties with BRICS nations in response to Brussels’ demand that it sever contacts with Russia and China, founder of Serbia’s Movement of Socialists and former Prime Minister Aleksandar Vuclin said.

"The unification and consolidation of patriotic people and political organizations is a response to the pressure from Europe, not capitulation. The response to the isolation that the European Union demands from us is not to give in and agree to self-isolation from Russia and China, but rather to turn to all those countries that do not ask anything of us but offer us a great deal, giving us the choice of what we want - to the BRICS countries. This is why we are calling for a referendum on Serbia's accession to the European Union. We must be responsible and at least think about Serbia's future and ask ourselves if Serbia has any other path besides the European one, which no one has ever asked us about," he said, as quoted by his press service.

Since BRICS is not that structured as the European Union, this format allows each BRICS member to "make decisions independently" and take "only what they need" from the cooperation, rather than what is being imposed on them, he noted. "BRICS does not ask any political concessions from us, while the European Union asks us to stop communicating with BRICS," the politician stated.

Vulin told TASS earlier that the European Union insists that it betray Russia as a condition for further European integration. However, it offers no benefits to Belgrade, he noted.

On April 2, Serbia’s Movement of Socialists proposed to its ruling coalition partner, the Serbian Progressive Party, to organize a referendum on the country’s accession to the European Union.