Serbia’s Vucic angers Russia with comments about selling ammo to EU

Comments travel aft bloc told Serbia, the lone state not to authorisation Russia, to ‘get concrete’ astir accession bid.

Russia has called connected Serbia to clarify nationalist remarks made by right-wing populist state President Aleksandar Vucic connected the imaginable merchantability of mortar shells to the European Union amid concerns exports could upwind up successful Ukraine arsenic Moscow’s warfare rages on.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said connected Friday that Vucic’s comments required an explanation, noting that Serbia had promised Russia galore times that its ammunition would not extremity up successful Ukrainian hands.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Serbians people day of deadly bid presumption collapse
• list 2 of 3Serbian students pb almighty memorial for railway catastrophe anniversary
• list 3 of 3Thousands march successful Serbia to people deadly bid presumption illness a twelvemonth ago

Vucic spoke of selling his country’s ample stocks of ammunition to Europe successful a televised interrogation with broadcaster Euronews that aired this week, confirming his readiness to commencement shipments adjacent if they recovered their mode to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia successful 2022.

“We request to merchantability it to someone, and we’ll merchantability it to whomever we tin successful bid to gain immoderate money, but we’ll effort to instrumentality attraction and not spot that ammunition extremity up successful a warfare zone. But it happens from clip to time,” helium said connected The Europe Conversation show.

“At the extremity [of the day], we’ll person to wage our workers,” helium added. “Tell me, is determination thing that is not rational?”

Last week, Vucic besides told Germany’s Cicero mag that helium had offered his “friends” successful the EU the accidental to motion a acquisition statement for the ample stockpiles of ammunition – successful particular, mortar shells – produced successful his country.

Asked straight whether helium would merchantability to Ukraine, Vucic said: “The buyers tin bash what they privation with it.”

Back successful May, Russia said it had grounds that Serbian defence companies were supplying Ukraine with ammunition, successful a uncommon rebuke of a state traditionally seen arsenic an ally.

The Kremlin spoke retired aft media outlets reported that hundreds of millions of dollars worthy of Serbian ammunition had indirectly reached Kyiv via contracts with 3rd countries.

Vucic’s caller comments appeared to awesome a readiness to prosecute further with the EU successful presumption of information – albeit successful a commercialized capacity.

His state has been pursuing EU rank since 2009, but has simultaneously maintained beardown ties with Russia.

EU advancement report

On Tuesday, the European Commission presented its yearly advancement study connected EU aspirants, giving Serbia a rap connected the knuckles implicit precocious levels of “polarisation” successful the country, which has been rocked by successive protests implicit the deadly illness of a railway presumption extortion that killed 16 people.

On Saturday, about 100,000 protesters marked the archetypal day of the calamity astatine Novi Sad railway station, which had been undergoing renovation work. The lawsuit acted arsenic a lightning rod for wide frustrations implicit high-level corruption, with protesters calling connected Vucic to measurement down.

On Wednesday night, authorities protesters called a counterprotest extracurricular Serbia’s parliament successful Belgrade, attended by elder authorities ministers. Supporters arrived from extracurricular the metropolis connected buses, reportedly organised by Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party.

The European Commission study besides called retired “Serbian media outlets” and “political bureau holders” for promoting “an anti-EU narrative”, adjacent arsenic the state eyes accession.

‘Get concrete’

Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Serbia to “get concrete” astir its proclaimed extremity of joining the bloc.

“We unrecorded successful a fractured satellite with a widening spread betwixt democracies and autocracies,” von der Leyen said astatine a associated quality league with Vucic. “And you cognize precise good wherever the European Union stands.”

Serbia remains the lone state successful Europe that has not imposed sanctions connected Moscow implicit its warfare successful Ukraine.

Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orban, an state of Russian President Vladimir Putin arsenic good arsenic United States President Donald Trump, has been a reluctant and often divisive unit wrong the EU arsenic it pushes for punitive measures against Russia.

Earlier this year, Vucic was 1 of the fewer European leaders to sojourn Moscow for Russia’s World War II commemorations. Orban did not attend.