\n<\/p>\n
Comments come after bloc told Serbia, the only country not to sanction Russia, to \u2018get concrete\u2019 about accession bid.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Russia has called on Serbia to clarify public remarks made by right-wing populist ally President Aleksandar Vucic on the potential sale of mortar shells to the European Union amid concerns exports could wind up in Ukraine as Moscow\u2019s war rages on.<\/p>\n Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Vucic\u2019s comments required an explanation, noting that Serbia had promised Russia many times that its ammunition would not end up in Ukrainian hands.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Vucic spoke of selling his country\u2019s large stocks of ammunition to Europe in a televised interview with broadcaster Euronews that aired this week, confirming his readiness to start shipments even if they found their way to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to sell it to someone, and we\u2019ll sell it to whomever we can in order to earn some money, but we\u2019ll try to take care and not see that ammunition end up in a war zone. But it happens from time to time,\u201d he said on The Europe Conversation show.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end [of the day], we\u2019ll have to pay our workers,\u201d he added. \u201cTell me, is there something that is not rational?\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, Vucic also told Germany\u2019s Cicero magazine that he had offered his \u201cfriends\u201d in the EU the opportunity to sign a purchase agreement for the large stockpiles of ammunition \u2013 in particular, mortar shells \u2013 produced in his country.<\/p>\n Asked directly whether he would sell to Ukraine, Vucic said: \u201cThe buyers can do what they want with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in May, Russia said it had evidence that Serbian defence companies were supplying Ukraine with ammunition, in a rare rebuke of a country traditionally seen as an ally.<\/p>\n The Kremlin spoke out after media outlets reported that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Serbian ammunition had indirectly reached Kyiv via contracts with third countries.<\/p>\n Vucic\u2019s recent comments appeared to signal a readiness to engage further with the EU in terms of security \u2013 albeit in a commercial capacity.<\/p>\n His country has been pursuing EU membership since 2009, but has simultaneously maintained strong ties with Russia.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the European Commission presented its annual progress report on EU aspirants, giving Serbia a rap on the knuckles over high levels of \u201cpolarisation\u201d in the country, which has been rocked by successive protests over the deadly collapse of a railway station roof that killed 16 people.<\/p>\n On Saturday, about 100,000 protesters marked the first anniversary of the tragedy at Novi Sad railway station, which had been undergoing renovation work. The event acted as a lightning rod for widespread frustrations over high-level corruption, with protesters calling on Vucic to step down.<\/p>\n On Wednesday night, government protesters called a counterprotest outside Serbia\u2019s parliament in Belgrade, attended by senior government ministers. Supporters arrived from outside the city on buses, reportedly organised by Vucic\u2019s Serbian Progressive Party.<\/p>\n The European Commission report also called out \u201cSerbian media outlets\u201d and \u201cpolitical office holders\u201d for promoting \u201can anti-EU narrative\u201d, even as the country eyes accession.<\/p>\n Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Serbia to \u201cget concrete\u201d about its proclaimed goal of joining the bloc.<\/p>\n \u201cWe live in a fractured world with a widening gap between democracies and autocracies,\u201d von der Leyen said at a joint news conference with Vucic. \u201cAnd you know very well where the European Union stands.\u201d<\/p>\n Serbia remains the only country in Europe that has not imposed sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Hungary\u2019s leader, Viktor Orban, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as United States President Donald Trump, has been a reluctant and often divisive force within the EU as it pushes for punitive measures against Russia.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Vucic was one of the few European leaders to visit Moscow for Russia\u2019s World War II commemorations. Orban did not attend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Comments come after bloc told Serbia, the only country not to sanction Russia, to \u2018get concrete\u2019 about accession bid. Russia has called on Serbia to clarify public remarks made by right-wing populist ally President Aleksandar Vucic on the potential sale of mortar shells to the European Union amid concerns exports could wind up in Ukraine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
EU progress report<\/h2>\n
\u2018Get concrete\u2019<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"