Brnabic: Cooperation with China does not mean we are closing our door to others

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said on Monday cooperation with China did not mean Serbia was closing its door to other countries and the EU but that it was a sovereign country making its own choices when it comes to its cooperation partners.

"We have the right to decide about our partnerships in line with our own interests, and that is the policy that has been in place since 2012 and that has brought all those good things to Serbia," Brnabic told Pink TV.

Asked about remarks that Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Belgrade has moved Serbia away from the EU, Brnabic responded that the EU was important for Serbia and that Serbia wanted to be a part of it.

Choosing our cooperation partners on our own is matter of sovereignty and does not mean Serbia will close its door to cooperation with other actors in the international arena, such as the EU or the US, Brnabic said.

"It just means we are intelligent, capable and wise enough to be able to get the most for our people and our country out of all that," she said.

Commenting on Western objections to Serbia's cooperation with China, Brnabic noted that Western countries had received many investments, technology transfers and loans from China, benefitting from ties with the Asian nation in many areas, but were not letting Serbia do the same.