Vucic Affirms Serbia's Commitment To Military Neutrality

Vucic Affirms Serbia's Commitment to Military Neutrality

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th May, 2022) Serbia will remain committed to the status of a military neutral state, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.

Vucic was in Berlin for a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other senior state officials. On Thursday morning, the Serbian president had a meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, after which he talked to reporters. When asked about the country's official stance on the Ukrainian crisis, Vucic admitted that Serbia is under a lot of external pressure and assured that the country will not turn from its political and military course.

"I don't know what turns we're talking about, because Serbia is on the European path and will not deviate. That's for our political course. As regarding our military neutrality, Serbia is militarily neutral and will remain so," Vucic said.

The Serbian president noted that Belgrade has been loud and clear about standing by its conviction since the beginning of Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

On April 9, Vucic thanked Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov for understanding that Serbia had voted for Russia's suspension from the UN Human Rights Council under the threat of facing sanctions on oil supplies from the European Union. In March, the Serbian government supported 4 of the 13 points of the UN resolution condemning Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, all of which did not entail the introduction of sanctions against Moscow.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian aggression.