Russia, Serbia confirm need to implement South Stream project

Russia and Serbia have confirmed their commitments to the construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline and the necessity to implement the project, the Russian foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“We have confirmed our agreements on the South Stream and the need to implement the project,” Lavrov said, following the talks with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic. “It (the project) is the only systematically feasible solution for the provision of the southeast of Europe (with natural gas)," he added.

Lavrov said he strongly believed that the recently mooted suspension of the project is only a “provisional issue.”
Lavrov’s Serbian counterpart Dacic said he saw no reasons that could be viewed as obstacles for the construction of the South Stream pipeline, which is planned to stretch across the Serbian territory.
“If there was the Nord Stream project implemented in Europe, than I see no reasons at all why the South Stream would not be constructed,” the Serbian diplomat said.

Serbia's accession to EU
The foreign minister also discussed Serbia's possible accession to the European Union. Russia respects Serbia’s talks on the terms of its accession to the EU, Lavrov said.
“We respect Serbia’s negotiations with the European Union over the possibility of the country’s accession to the EU,” Lavrov said. “This position of ours proceeds from the impermissibility of creating new division lines in Europe and advances the idea of a new economic space. Russia is for it," Lavrov added.