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Vucic Welcomes Russian Overture as EU Pressure on Serbia Builds

EU officials have taken note of Serbia’s sanctions reluctance
Serbia struggles to balance EU ambitions, Russian ties

Aleksandar Vucic — Aleksandar Vucic
Photographer: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

By

Jasmina Kuzmanovic, and

March 25, 2022, 10:03 AM UTCUpdated onMarch 25, 2022, 3:12 PM UTC

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic welcomed a Russian overture to exempt its Balkan ally from paying for energy in rubles, even as European Union member nations raised pressure on Belgrade to get in line on sanctions targeting Moscow.

Vucic, who is poised to win re-election to a second term in just over a week, has been maintaining a careful balancing act between pushing forward with the former Yugoslav republic’s ambitions to join the 27-member bloc and sticking to its political and cultural ties with Russia.