EU ministers reportedly warned Balkan states working toward EU membership–BiH and Serbia foremost among them–not to try to take advantage of the current tensions between Europe and Russia. Serbia and BiH have not signed on to economic sanctions against Russia established by the EU and the United States, and both countries are in a position to expand their export markets inside Russia. EU leaders have discouraged this, despite the fact that there are no legal obstacles to trade between non-EU states and Russia.
EU foreign policy chiefs at a session expressed the expectation that countries, especially relating to BiH and Serbia who are not under Russian sanctions, will not try to use this opportunity, Patria reports. According to indicators in the first half of the year, trade between BiH and Russia amounted to around 130 million KM.
