The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić said yesterday that Serbia will only have the obligation to align its foreign policy with that of the European Union just before being admitted into the union, and asked how he was supposed to impose sanctions on Russia, which has not violated the territorial integrity of Serbia, but not on Slovenia, which has.

At the joint press conference held by Vučić and the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor, answering a question from a Slovenian reporter who asked when Serbia would be aligning its foreign policy with that of the European Union and imposing sanctions on Russia, Vučić asked how he was supposed to explain it to his people that Serbia would be imposing sanctions against Russia, but not against Slovenia.

“Russia has not violated the territorial integrity of Serbia, while Slovenia has, but we do not have any sanctions against Slovenia and instead we are looking to maintain good relations… I named Slovenia, but I could have said the United States, Germany, France…,” said Vučić.

He pointed out that he found it interesting how everybody seems to want Serbia to join the sanctions at any cost.

“Serbia will be obligated to join the European foreign policy immediately before its membership in the European Union. As yet, we have not been notified that we are close to membership in the European Union, and it doesn’t seem to me like anybody is planning on notifying us,” said Vučić.

Speaking on the meeting with Pahor, Vučić said that they talked about the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, as well as other issues, including how each of the countries was preparing for the winter, and how the both countries could help one another.

“I asked Pahor, if it should be on the agenda of an organ in the European Union, that the Western Balkans be included in the financial aid for imported electricity or part of the electricity consumed,” said Vučić.

Relating to the vehicle licence plates which Priština had begun to impose on September 1, Vučić said that two citizens in the north of Kosovo and Metohija have agreed to switch out their plates.

“And there are 9,000 plates, including 7,500 in the north. So this is off to a good start. My estimate is that there will not be more than 200 total,” said Vučić.

The President of Slovenia Borut Pahor said that he supported the “Open Balkan” initiative, and assessed that there were not enough initiatives like it.

“I arrived in the evening of the 11th Summit of the Brdo-Brioni Initiative in order to discuss all of the relevant issues with President Vučić. Two of the goals which have been a priority over these 11 years, and still are: the European perspective of the Western Balkans, as well as peace and stability,” said Pahor.

Vučić and Pahor met today as part of the preparations for the upcoming Summit of the Brdo-Brioni Process, which will be held on September 12 in Brdo near Kranj.