Austrian and Serbian presidents on sanctions against Russia

A statement issued in Vienna by the office of the Austrian president said that the two leaders told a joint news conference that "sanctions are a sharp instrument that must be handled very carefully, and that must first be well considered."
Fischer, whose country is a member of the European Union, was also quoted as saying that "introducing certain sanctions is, unfortunately, easier than lifting them later," and adding:

"In that sense, the long-term perspective must remain for different nations in Europe and on the borders toward Europe, to, peacefully and with mutual trust, live together and cooperate economically with as few obstacles and possible."

"Tomislav Nikolić, whose country, as a consequence of the Balkan conflicts, had sad experiences with Western sanctions, also said that 'great caution must be shown there'," the statement said.

The release noted that "Serbia did not join the EU and U.S. sanctions against Moscow, which is Belgrade's most important ally in the fight against Kosovo's independence," and added:

"On the subjects of comparisons between Kosovo's secession and that of Crimea, President Nikolić said that 'international law cannot be determined on a case by case basis, but rather, rules are need - but rules are not always there'."

"Wait for them to reconcile"

In its report from Vienna, Tanjug quoted Nikolić as saying that after Serbia gets a new government "it will meet its obligations along the EU path more quickly."

"You can expect that, after the formation of the government, Serbia will meet its obligations more quickly, and how fast the EU wants Serbia in its membership - that will depend on the European Union, enlargement fatigue, economic crisis," Nikolić said at a joint press conference after the talks with Austrian President Heinz Fischer.

The new government will be formed based on the decisive victory of one political option that advocates for Serbia's EU membership, Nikolić said, underlining that the new convocation of the Serbian parliament will not contain a single parliamentary group that is against Serbia's EU path.

"We can expect that our progress toward the EU will be accelerated," Nikolić underscored.

He also said that the new government will be committed to the fight against corruption and justice system reform.

Fischer confirmed that Austria will continue to support Serbia on its EU path, and welcomed Belgrade's commitment to comply with the Brussels agreement.

He noted that the relations between the two countries are at a high level.

"I would like us to use 2014 to look to the future and clearly say that a war is not an instrument for resolving conflicts," Fischer said.

He then noted that this year also marks the centenary of the beginning of World War I, and qualified the war as "a mega catastrophe".

Fisher added that he himself does not belong to the group that considers such events with prejudice, shifting the blame to others, but rather underlined that one must learn from mistakes of the past, look forward and build a common European future.

Nikolić said that meetings of historians are the adequate place for such discussions, stressing that this issue does not encumber the relations between the two countries.

"Our predecessors did what they did. A war is not a means for resolving conflicts. So many years of cooperation with Austria make us consider the war as a warning, and not as the means or reason for which we would shun future cooperation," the Serbian president noted.

He pointed to the plans to hold a joint ceremony in Serbia on the occasion of the centenary of the outbreak of World War I to which Fischer would be invited, which would be a final sign that "this war does not exist in our heads".........[b92.net]
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• Western sanctions against Russian officials arouse irony and sarcasm. - Kremlin

• The Hague Declaration / Russian FM Sergei Lavrov said Monday he saw no "great tragedy" if Moscow was expelled from the G8 club

• Russia imposes sanctions on 13 Canadian officials

• Russia slams Germany for halting arms deal over Crimea

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• Heinz Fischer und Tomislac Nikolic warnen vor Sanktionen gegen die Ukraine

"EU hat auch sicher nicht alles richtig gemacht" , so Bundespräsident Heinz Fischer beim Pressegespräch anlässlich des offiziellen Arbeitsbesuches des Präsidenten der Republik Serbien in Österreich

Wien - Sowohl Bundespräsident Heinz Fischer als auch sein serbischer Amtskollege Tomislav Nikolic äußerten sich am Donnerstag warnend zu Sanktionen gegen Russland im Zusammenhang mit dessen Annexion der Krim. "Auch Sanktionen sind ein scharfes Instrument, mit dem man sehr vorsichtig umgehen und das man sich gut überlegen muss", sagte Heinz Fischer in einem gemeinsamen Pressegespräch anlässlich Nikolics Besuch.
Bundespräsident Fischer verwies darauf, "dass die Einführung bestimmter Sanktionen vielleicht - Klammer: leider, Klammer zu - leichter ist als davon wieder wegzukommen." Die langfristige Perspektive müsse in diesem Zusammenhang sein, "dass die verschiedenen Nationen in Europa und an der Grenze Europas friedlich und vertrauensvoll zusammenleben und auch ihre wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit so reibungslos wie möglich machen."

In der Gesamtbeurteilung der Krise in und um die Ukraine meinte Bundespräsident Fischer, auch die EU habe "sicher nicht alles richtig gemacht", vor allem, weil seiner Meinung nach "für die Ukraine keine 'entweder-oder-Politik' in Bezug auf Europa und Russland, sondern eine Politik richtig wäre, die aus der geografischen und historischen Position heraus gute und wirtschaftliche Beziehungen zu Russland mit guten und wirtschaftlichen und Beziehungen zu Europa verknüpfen soll."

Auch Tomislav Nikolic, dessen Land in der Folge des Balkan-Konflikts selbst leidvolle Erfahrungen mit westlichen Sanktionen gemacht hat, meinte, man müsse damit "sehr vorsichtig sein." Serbien hat sich den Sanktionen der EU und der USA gegen Moskau nicht angeschlossen, das für Belgrad der wichtigste Verbündete im Kampf gegen die Unabhängigkeit des Kosovo ist. Im Zusammenhang mit den angestellten Vergleichen bei der Abspaltung des Kosovo und jener der Krim beklagte Präsident Nikolic auch, "dass Völkerrecht nicht von Fall zu Fall zu bilden sein kann, sondern es braucht Regeln. Aber Regeln gibt es nicht mehr..." [http://www.bundespraesident.at/newsdetail/artikel/-d64ff5fee0/]