Serbian leader calls for calmness, stability after Syria strikes

BELGRADE, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Caution, calmness, seriousness and responsibility are required, said Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday while commenting on the U.S strikes on Syria allegedly connected with chemical weapons, stressing that stability must be maintained at any cost.

In a statement to RTS, the country's national broadcaster, Vucic said that numerous conflicts in the world, led over economic, political and military interests, show that peace should not be taken for granted, and for Serbia it is a sign that county should maintain its neutrality and nurture worldwide partnerships in order to evade such scenario in future.

Earlier Saturday morning, the U.S., in cooperation with Britain and France, bombed Syrian military facilities reportedly related to Syria's chemical weapons capabilities.

"For those among us who are older than 18, this presents a painful reminder on the period that we have gone through," Vucic said referring to the U.S-led NATO bombing on Yugoslavia in 1999.

Vucic continued that Serbia's policy of military neutrality, and relaying on our own potentials is "the only policy that we can lead, because those that chose to align with stronger countries, do not always choose the side of morality and justice".

"We all have to remind ourselves that peace and stability are not things given to us to last forever. You have it one day and can lose it on the other. One day of warfare can bring back a country a decade into the past," he concluded.

Also on Saturday, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Belgium "strongly condemns" the use of chemical weapons, calling for "political negotiations to prevent escalation". Enditem