Nepp: EU's methods of blackmailing Serbia entirely unacceptable

The methods of blackmail used by the European Union against Serbia are entirely unacceptable, and the hypocrisy of the EU, in general, is becoming increasingly intolerable, Dominik Nepp says in an interview for Kosovo Online in Vienna. He is the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), the political party that is currently the strongest in the country in public opinion polls.

Nepp points out that the pressure on Serbia is being exerted only because President Aleksandar Vucic does not support "the failed policy of the EU, but takes care of the interests of Serbia and its citizens."

All member states of the United Nations must respect all UN documents, he added.

When it comes to Kosovo, the West insists on the right to self-determination but does not allow that right in other cases, for example, when Russia in Crimea mentions this precedent. Is this attitude a violation of the UN Charter, and did it contribute to the war in Ukraine?

Certainly, Pandora's box has been opened with Kosovo. Of course, every member of the United Nations must respect the UN Charter and all resolutions of that international organization.

Ethnically motivated attacks on Serbs have increased in Kosovo recently, and official Vienna has not reacted. In Germany, despite numerous reports, the government says it knows nothing of ethnically motivated attacks. Why are the international community noisy in their reaction when something bad is said about Albanians while covering up attacks on Serbs?

It is important that such incidents are equally harshly condemned by everyone in the international community. The task of KFOR troops is to prevent further conflicts between ethnic groups. I thank the soldiers of the Austrian army who perform important tasks in the field.

Isn't the EU trying to create a political crisis with its pressure on Serbia over Kosovo in order to overthrow the government that does not want to impose sanctions on Russia?

The European Union's blackmail methods against Serbia are entirely unacceptable. The EU is tightening the screws on the candidate for accession only because its president does not want to support the failed policy of the elite in the Union in every way and looks at the interests of his people. While in Turkey, the ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is even waging war against the Kurds in his country, and has not even thought about sanctions against Russia, enjoys all the freedom, and completely different standards apply in Serbia. The hypocrisy of this European Union is becoming increasingly unbearable.

Austria enters into an increasingly open confrontation with Russia. President Alexander Van der Bellen visited Kyiv and pledged support, and Vienna is expelling Russian diplomats. Is there a risk of being dragged into war?

The President of Austria questions our neutrality with his behavior and acts as a foreign policy blind man. His clear task as the president of a neutral country would be to decisively lead a campaign for the fastest possible termination of this terrible war through negotiations and not to advocate for those blinded people who only demand more war and in whose vocabulary even the word "peace" no longer appears. You can't fight fire with fire. With his statements, Van der Bellen calls for moral complicity in the prolongation of suffering, in the senseless death of countless soldiers and civilians on both sides.