MEP: Putin is losing the war, Serbia should pick the right side

NEWS 14.05.202212:58 1 komentar
Putin
Tanjug/AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

In an interview with the daily Nova, former Lithuanian Prime Minister and European Parliament rapporteur for dialogue with Moscow, Andrius Kubilius, said that the Serbian political elite must understand that Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing the war and that it is time to pick the right side.

He added that Serbia must clearly define its political position because many will form their position on Serbia in the future based on how the country behaved regarding this matter.

„I think it is better to be on the side of those who will win, and not with those who will lose the war. Democracy will win in the end, I do not doubt that“ Kubilius said.

„First of all, we have to talk about how we see the end of the war. The European Union, US representatives, President Biden, Mr Blinken, as well as representatives of Great Britain, like Prime Minister Johnson, believe that the war must end with the complete victory of Ukraine and the West and that Russian military forces must be completely defeated. This is necessary because we must not allow the current regime from the Kremlin to recover and try to attack another country in its immediate vicinity in two or three years. This is our strategic plan, and if that happens, if the Russian army and their economy are defeated, after the sanctions, then great changes can be expected – first in Russia itself,” he said.

This would provide a possibility for Russia to function without Putin and become a different state that would be more democratic, he said.

“In that case, we can talk about lasting peace throughout Europe. At the moment, peace and stability are threatened by the authoritarian government in Russia and therefore Europe must have a very clear strategy; there must be democracy in Russia and in order to achieve democracy, the invasion of Ukraine must be stopped, so I believe more in long-term peace and stability in Europe than in a new Cold War. In that case, it would not be just the Cold War, but the possibility of a real war, which would be initiated by the aggressive regime in the Kremlin,” Kubilius said.

Asked about how he sees the position of Serbia which wants to join the EU although it refuses to impose sanctions on Russia, Kubilius said that countries that are not EU members and have not yet imposed sanctions on Russia are probably afraid of how Russia will react.

“I do not know much about the status of Serbia’s candidacy for EU membership, but my advice to the Serbian political elite and leaders there is that Putin will lose this war and that Russia has the opportunity to change. It is much better for Serbia and its people to be an ally to that different Russia, not to be united with Putin,” he said.

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