Serbia is the only country from the Balkans that voted against the resolution on the militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, on Monday at the United Nations General Assembly.
The EU candidate country, Serbia backed Russia on the resolution calling to withdraw its forces from Crimean peninsula, occupied by Moscow in 2014.
63 countries voted in favour of this resolution, while Serbia is among 17 countries that did not support it; Armenia, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
The deputy head of the EU’s delegation to the UN, Silvio Gonzato, pointed out that the EU candidate countries which aligned themselves with the EU stance are Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania.
“Russia’s actions are in blatant breach of international law and key principles of international order. They are a violation of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” said Gonzato on behalf of the European Union.
Bosnia and Herzegovina on the other side, was among the countries that abstained.
Russia remains Serbia’s biggest ally. In order to not breach relations with Russia, Serbia has repeatedly supported its ally over the Crimea annexation.
On the other side, Russia is one of the countries to not recognize Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, alongside China, five EU member states and other countries.
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