Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama called for understanding for Serbia’s position on Russia and warned that Belgrade should not be pushed.

Speaking in an interview for the Politico portal, Rama said Belgrade should not be pushed. “You have to understand that Serbia is in a very different position than many others, because of its history, because of its special ties with Russia,” he said, adding that he believes Serbia should impose sanctions over time but warned against pushing Belgrade, which is heavily dependent on Moscow for energy supplies, to do too much too soon.

“Asking them to go there, right now, and all over the range, is practically impossible … It’s suicidal for their economy,” he said. Putting too much Western pressure on Serbia could be detrimental to the stability of the Western Balkan region, Rama warned. “We need to sometimes bear with others and understand what’s going on, otherwise we cannot keep this community together for higher and better purposes,” he said.
“I think Serbia is on the right track. Of course, not with the speed we might like, we might want. But believe me, the other scenarios are really very bad for everyone and especially for this region,” Rama told Politico.