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Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD)
Photo: Georgi Licovski/EPA
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has called on the EU accession candidate Serbia to join the European Union's sanctions against Russia.
"We expect that the sanctions will also be implemented by those countries that are moving in the EU accession process," he said on Friday in Belgrade after talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
At the joint press conference, he confirmed that Scholz "clearly requested that Serbia join the EU sanctions".
Belgrade has condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine in the UN General Assembly and in other bodies.
However, Serbia defended its policy of not joining European sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war, despite its bid to join the EU.
"We have a different position for many reasons," said Serbian President Vučić after the meeting with Scholz.
For example, Germany has to take into account that it is in a "very complicated situation" with regard to energy supply.
Moreover, the Serbian President reacted with outrage to another statement by Scholz.
"So you can understand: We don't react in this way to pressure, where someone threatens us and then you have to do something," Vučić said.
From the EU he "heard for the first time today that mutual recognition is required".
During his visit to Pristina in the morning, Scholz said about the efforts of Kosovo and Serbia to join the EU: "An agreement must ultimately also clarify the issue of recognizing Kosovo;
because it is inconceivable that two countries that do not recognize each other could become members of the EU.«
Scholz reacted calmly to Vučić's outrage in the joint press conference with the Serbian President.
He "said something that is obvious.
Maybe that will help.«
Serbia has been an EU accession candidate since 2012.
It is also heavily dependent on Russia for energy supplies.
At the end of May, the country extended its contract for Russian gas supplies on particularly favorable terms.
At the same time, Serbia maintains close ties with China.
The Balkan country does not want to accept the EU sanctions against Russia at the moment because it sees its economic interests at risk.
Among others, the country gets almost all of its gas from Russia.
til/AFP/dpa