Serbian Economy Minister Rade Basta caused a stir on the Serbian political scene on Monday by suggesting that Belgrade impose sanctions against Russia, the first such statement by a Serbian government official in favor of sanctions and a departure from Serbia’s official position, reports said on Tuesday. Croatian news agency HINA quotes Agerpres.

Rade Basta said in a statement that Serbia is already paying a high price for not implementing sanctions against Russia and “it is becoming unsustainable”.

This statement caused disapproval in the United Serbia party, from whose list the minister entered Ana Brnabić’s government, as well as requests from coalition partners for Basta to resign.

United Serbia is part of an electoral alliance with the Socialist Party of Serbia, led by former Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, which in turn has been in coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party of Oleksandr Vucic for several election cycles.

Basta said that he, as the Minister of Economy, sees pressure on the President of Serbia from the EU and the international community, although no one is talking about it.

“I cannot agree with that,” Basta said, saying that for this reason he is in favor of imposing sanctions on Russia and that he “defends the national interest with President Vucic” and has “absolute confidence” in Vucic.

“That’s why I’m asking the Serbian government and all ministers to make a statement on this,” Rade Basta said.

Rade Basta talks about the “new reality” of the war in Ukraine

Recalling that Serbia itself has faced sanctions throughout its history and that people have “suffered from serious economic consequences”, he said Belgrade did not decide to impose sanctions in the hope that “the war will end and reason will prevail”. the parties will sit down at the negotiating table.”

But “we are facing a new reality,” he said, stressing that due to “global unrest, Serbia is facing enormous pressure.”

The United Serbia party was the first to react to Basta’s proposal, noting that he expressed a “personal position” and not that of the party he is a member of, which opposes “imposing sanctions against anyone” and saying that the decision before war in Ukraine “sits at the negotiating table”.

Oleksandr Vulin’s Socialist Movement, which is also part of the ruling coalition, called on Basta to resign for calling for Serbia to join “illegal sanctions against the Russian Federation.”

Serbia did not comply with the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia

Serbian President Vucic has refused to join EU and international sanctions against Russia, but in early February, during a debate on Kosovo, he told lawmakers that he would “probably have to introduce sanctions” against the Kremlin.

He said he was not “thrilled about it” but that Belgrade had already paid the price for not doing so sooner.

The Kremlin responded to the statement, saying it understood that “Serbia’s leaders are facing unprecedented pressure from the West” and understood the position of President Aleksandar Vučić, hoping for further improvement in relations between the two countries.

Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party has not yet commented on Baca’s statements, HINA notes.

On Monday, the European Union extended for another 6 months all the sanctions imposed against Russia since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.

As a candidate country for EU membership, Serbia should bring its foreign policy closer to that of the EU bloc in such major issues as sanctions policy. Belgrade’s refusal to do so drew sharp criticism from European officials.

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