Brnabić to Politiko: I wouldn't exactly say we have brotherly relations with Russia

Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić stated today in Prague that she would not call relations between Serbia and Russia fraternal and that the sanctions that Yugoslavia was under in the 1990s were the only reason Belgrade did not introduce punitive measures against Moscow.

In an interview with the Brussels-based portal Politiko, on the sidelines of the international conference Globsec (GLOBSEC) in which she is participating, Brnabić said that Serbia is "fully aligned" with the European Union (EU) in terms of values ​​and opposed the statement that Aleksandar Vučić's government maintains "fraternal relations" with Moscow.

"I wouldn't exactly say that these are brotherly relations. Our President Vučić communicates with President (of Russia) Vladimir) Putin, but the leaders of some EU members also communicate with his administration. Some EU leaders, such as Slovak Prime Minister (Robert) Fico, were in Moscow this year as well. And Vučić was in Moscow for the 80th anniversary, for a big anniversary. He was not in Moscow this year," said Brnabić.

Brnabić stated that Serbia "clearly stated" that Russia's attack on Ukraine was "a pure act of aggression and a clear violation of international law" and that it voted to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.

"The world sees everything in black and white, so they are surprised in Brussels when I say that we condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine and that we fully respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, because Ukraine respects the territorial integrity of Serbia. Ukraine has not recognized the so-called Kosovo. The only reason why we have not imposed sanctions on Russia is that we were under sanctions in the 1990s, our people do not like sanctions," Brnabić added.

She also said that Serbia does not have a large trade exchange with Russia and that, for example, it has a larger trade exchange with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"So that (imposing sanctions on Russia) is completely irrelevant," said Brnabić, a member of the Presidency of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Brnabić stated that European integration is a "strategic priority" for Serbia, but added that the "rules of the game" in that process have changed compared to 2014 and assessed that this is "not fair".

"Those rules of the game have changed and I think that's not fair, because when you fully align with the EU's common foreign and security policy, you are an EU member and you have complete security and protection from the EU. We don't have that. Whenever there is some chaos, for example a US-EU trade war, we are treated as a third country, and we are expected to align 100 percent (with the EU). I don't think that's fair. It's not in our national interest. I believe that the EU needs to understand that," Brnabić said.

When asked to comment on allegations of repression by Serbian authorities against protesters over the past year and a half, Brnabić said that the police are taking a tougher stance on protests in some EU member states.

"If we look at the repressive measures that can be seen against demonstrators in the Netherlands, France or Germany, even at registered protests, and we had more than 13.000 unregistered protests, I would not say that we used measures that can be compared to what we see in some EU member states," Brnabić said.

Brnabić also cited Albania as an example, saying that "no one said a word" about the recent use of tear gas and water cannons against protesters in that country.

"And why is that? In my opinion, because Albania has fully aligned itself with the EU's common foreign and security policy. And then you turn a blind eye to everything else, while in the case of Serbia, you are essentially pushing largely false narratives and applying different standards," Brnabić added.