Serbia will not impose sanctions against Moscow, says president.
Serbia is striking a delicate balance between its European aspirations, its partnership with NATO, and its long-standing ethnic and political alliance with Russia.
BELGRADE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Serbia respects Ukraine's territorial integrity and considers Russia's military action against it "wrong," but will not impose sanctions against Moscow, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday (25).
Serbia, led by Vucic, is striking a delicate balance between its European aspirations, its partnership with NATO, and its long-standing religious, ethnic, and political alliance with Russia.
But as tensions between Russia and the European Union over Ukraine are rising, Serbia is under pressure to harmonize its foreign policy with that of the EU, which it intends to join, and to introduce sanctions against Moscow, among other things.
"They (Russia) were the only country that did not impose sanctions against us in the 1990s," Vucic said after a meeting of the National Security Council.
"They also supported our territorial integrity at the United Nations. We must not forget that," said Vucic, referring to Russia's position on the former Serbian province of Kosovo, whose independence Moscow refuses to recognize.
However, Vucic said that the National Security Council concluded that the Republic of Serbia considers "the violation of the territorial integrity of several countries, including Ukraine, to be very wrong."
Serbia has placed its gas and oil sectors in the hands of Russia.
In 2008, the Balkan country sold a majority stake in its oil company to Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM). Gazprom is the majority shareholder in the country's only gas storage facility.
In return, Russia has been blocking the participation of the former Serbian province of Kosovo in the United Nations.
Serbia lost control of Kosovo after a NATO bombing campaign in 1999 to prevent the deaths of ethnic Albanians at the hands of Serbian forces during a two-year counterinsurgency.
Vucic said the National Security Council decided that Serbia will halt all military exercises with foreign troops to preserve military neutrality.
He said Serbia will take legal action against its citizens fighting abroad.
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