EU Puts Pressure on Serbia to Drop Trade Area Deal With Russia

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that as Serbia prepares to join the European Union, the European Commission wants it to abandon the free trade area (FTA) agreement signed by Russia and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2000.

DUSHANBE (Sputnik) — The European Commission has demanded that Serbia abandon the free trade area (FTA) agreement signed by Russia and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2000, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.

"We have an agreement on a free trade zone, concluded by the Russian and Yugoslavian governments. At present, as Serbia prepares to join the European Union, the European Commission wants it to abandon the agreement. So our concerns are completely justified," Medvedev stated at a session of the CIS Council of Heads of Government.

The accord, signed in August 2000, aims to deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation as well as creating necessary conditions for the free movement of goods and capital.

According to Medvedev, the issue has been discussed with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, and the sides agreed that is was impossible for the country to participate in two free trade zones simultaneously.

On Tuesday, Vucic arrived in Moscow for a three-day visit, where he met his counterpart Medvedev and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During his visit, Vucic also attended the Serbian-Russian Business Forum and the Moscow international forum on innovations.