RFE: EU says relations with Russia can’t be business as usual

An EU reply to RFE said that the Union was crystal clear to its partners that relations with Russia cannot be business as usual following Moscow’s aggression on Ukraine. The reply came following the announced meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbian deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin at an economic forum in Vladivostok this week.

The EU said that it wants to be able to count on candidate countries as reliable partners in terms of common principle, values, security and prosperity.

RFE also asked Serban Prime Minister Milos Vucevic about the meeting and he replied that it’s not that bad and not sensational. “We did not break off diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. We are not forbidden from meeting Russian Federation officials,” Vucic said and recalled that his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban met with Putin in Moscow recently. “We will not apologize for or justify our policies which we can explain,” Vucevic said.