Vučić denies close links to Putin and says Serbia is on the path to the EU
Vučić acknowledged that Serbia had resisted falling in line with the rest of Europe in putting sanctions on Russia but did say Belgrade had repeatedly condemned the invasion of Ukraine.
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00:00Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic has denied having close links to his Russian counterpart
00:07Vladimir Putin.
00:09Speaking at the Globesec security conference in Prague, Vucic said he hadn't met or spoken
00:14to Putin in the more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine.
00:19Vucic acknowledged that Serbia had resisted falling in line with the rest of Europe in
00:23putting sanctions on Russia, but did say Belgrade had repeatedly condemned the invasion.
00:29Serbia and Turkey are the only EU candidate countries that have refused to impose sanctions.
00:34Vucic said he had had a great conversation with European Commission President Ursula
00:39von der Leyen, but admitted it was unlikely that Serbia would become an EU member state
00:43by 2028.
00:46Serbia became an EU candidate country in 2012, but has made little progress in the fields
00:51of rule of law and democratic reforms, which are the major preconditions for membership
00:56in the 27-nation bloc.
00:58Belgrade must also align its foreign policies with those of the EU, and that would include
01:03slapping sanctions on Russia.