The country’s president has asked why the West supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine but not that of Serbia
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said his “guts turn” when he hears Western countries talk about their respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, while simultaneously insisting on the independence of the Serbian breakaway region of Kosovo.
Vucic made the claim during a Prva TV Sunday broadcast and said there are no principles in international politics today. He also accused the West, which he claimed is hypocritical and double-standards when it comes the Ukraine/Kosovo conflicts.
Belgrade does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 self-declaration of independence and considers the territory to be a Serbian province. Nearly 100 countries including Russia and the USA have recognised the region’s independence.
“When I read about territorial integrity and the principles that underpin them, my stomach turns. They (the Western countries) ask us to respect someone’s integrity, and what about ours?” said Vucic.
As the G7 pledged that it would never accept the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the Serbian government will continue to insist on the same principle for its own country, Vucic argued.
“Serbia cannot lose its integrity if it is hit with a gun in the forehead. This does not happen to us, but to our children.” he stressed.
Also, the leader of Serbia asked why NATO doesn’t bomb Ukraine as it did in Yugoslavia 1999, when Russia was committing such terrible crimes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that Moscow’s move to recognize the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk was based on the Kosovo precedent.
Russia attacked its neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. French- and German-brokered protocol were created to provide special status for the Ukrainian breakaway areas within the Ukrainian state.
Since then, the Kremlin demanded Ukraine declare itself neutral and vow to never join NATO’s military bloc. Kiev maintains that Russia’s offensive was not provoked and denies claims that it planned to seize the two republics.
Belgrade took a neutral position in relation to conflict. Vucic promised to punish Serbs for trying to fight on one side.
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