Vucic: If Serbia Hadn't Supported Anti-Russia Resolution, It Couldn't Insist on Position on Kosovo

BELGRADE (Sputnik) - The Serbian authorities were forced to support a resolution at the United Nations condemning the Russian operation to demilitarize Ukraine, otherwise it would be impossible to insist on the principle of territorial integrity in the situation with Kosovo and Metohija, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.

In an address to citizens last Wednesday, Vucic said that the Serbian authorities supported four of the 13 clauses of the UN resolution condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine, which do not imply sanctions.

He said that the Serbian authorities do not plan to alienate the property of Russian companies in the country, but noted that the crisis due to hostilities in Ukraine is having a dramatic impact on Serbia, which has come under enormous foreign policy pressure.

"We insist on respecting the territorial integrity of states, this is our principle. On this we base the preservation of Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia. If we had not condemned the invasion of Ukraine, we would never again have the moral right to present this argument," Vucic said on the B92 TV channel.

He said that many countries want to see the so-called state of Kosovo in international organizations, which Belgrade would never accept.

At the same time, a rally in support of Russia was held in Belgrade. According to the organizers, about 50,000 people came to the main square of the capital.

Meanwhile, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, announced last week that his country had applied for NATO and EU membership and claimed that Kosovo's accession to the EU would allow Western countries to more effectively resist those that support Moscow's position.