RIGA – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia will continue to impose pressure on Serbia during the upcoming review of Chapter 31 – Foreign, security and defence policy to introduce sanctions against Russia due to the Annexation of Crimea, thus join a joint decision of the EU member states, according to a daily report by the expert on European issues.
The three Baltic countries mentioned will point out the significance and necessity for Serbia to follow common foreign policy moves of the EU in the upcoming period, Erki Bahovski, the Estonian diplomat, also points out.
“If Russia does not change its behaviour, there is no purpose for the EU to lift its sanctions. As for the attitude of the Baltic states towards Serbia, I think they will insist in the near future that Serbia comply to not only sanctions against Moscow, but also that more closely follow the Union’s views,” Bahovski said.
Nemanja Todorović Štiplija, Editor-in-chief of the European Western Balkans portal, who took part at the Riga Conference, said that officials and experts from the Baltic countries were convinced that, in addition to the aforementioned Chapter 31, equally important were those related to and concerning the rule of law, judicial reform, and democratic principles as a whole.
“Although we all think that we are out of the radar for these countries, there are always diplomats and officials who are interested in our region,” said Štiplija, recalling the words of Linas Linkevičius, the head of diplomacy of Lithuania, that Serbia must clearly show its strategic orientation towards the EU and that it is necessary to fully harmonize with the foreign policy of the Union.
At the end, Štiplija pointed out that thanks to the prominent Euro-enthusiasm after the renewal of independence, the success of the “Baltic tiger is visible in many economic spheres and the standard of citizens.”