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WASHINGTON – Serbia will one day have to decide with whom it will harmonize its foreign policy, with the European Union or Russia, said Viola von Cramon, a member of the European Parliament and representative of the German Green Party in the representative body of the European Union.
In an interview with Voice of America, Von Cramon said that all countries have the right to make a sovereign decision on the orientation of their foreign policy, including Serbia, whose authorities, as they say, marked membership in the Union as one of the objectives. of official state policy, Tanjug reports.
“It is completely fine if you want to harmonize with Russia in terms of foreign policy.” But the facts say otherwise: Serbia and the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) carried out 17 joint maneuvers, while at the same time there were only three or four with Russia. So it’s not easy to understand, “von Cramon said.
He recalled the recent case in which Serbia opposed the United Nations resolution on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and claimed that Serbia’s solidarity with Russia is disappointing.
“By denying its support for the UN resolution in the sensitive Crimea case, it opposes Western partners and the NATO alliance. It is so obvious that Russia has violated international law and almost all countries accept it. Therefore, there is no need for Serbia to sympathize with Russia. And that is disappointing. “How is it possible to build trustworthy relations on such foundations?” Von Cramon asked.
Speaking about the process of European integration in Serbia, which did not open chapters this year, von Cramon said that the reasons were “quite clear” and that, as he himself says, it is not enough to announce reforms, but also to implement them, especially in the field of justice and freedom of the press. . When asked which countries oppose the opening of the chapter, the German politician said that it was not about individual countries, but about the decision of the European Commission.
“It is not the position of a state or a member that is opposed to that, but, as I said, of the Commission,” he stressed.
Commenting in his previous tweet that the good news is that Serbia will not open any chapters, von Cramon says that no one in the EP should be happy that Serbia does not open chapters, but that it is good that the European Commission, as he says, finally apply the principle of strict conditioning.
He also said that progress largely depends on the effect of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, noting that “the same is true for Kosovo and Serbia: without mutual recognition and a comprehensive agreement, there is no form of European integration.”
He is optimistic about continuing the dialogue, stating that things could be resolved very quickly if there were political will.
When asked how the new transatlantic initiative proposed by the EU could be reflected in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Von Cramon said that he hoped that from day one, the US administration would closely monitor the region with the EU, so that for the summer could we hope some common result.
“It doesn’t have to be an agreement, it can be a draft where work could continue after the summer.” On the basis of which the countries will follow their European path ”, he concluded.
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