Vucic says Skripal case, murder of Saudi journalist show irrationality in global politics

Blaming Russia for the Skripal poisoning with the subsequent introduction of sanctions on the one hand and the situation regarding the murder of journalist Khashoggi on the other hand are examples of double standards and irrationality that exist in the world, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in an interview with the TV channel Pink on Wednesday.

"If you look at the global interests, you’ll see numerous irrationalities there. How can it be explained that you introduce sanctions because of some Skripal who is alive, but do not introduce sanctions against those who dismembered a person and, on the contrary, sign deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars with them," the president said.

"There is no moral beacon now for the Serbs to be guided by; everything is based on calculation," he said. "We should search for ourselves, cooperate with everyone and fight for our place under the sun amid this chaos that exists in the world," Vucic stated.

On March 4, former Russian intelligence officer and convicted British spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were allegedly poisoned with a nerve agent, according to British investigators. Later, London stated that this agent was designed in Russia and blamed Moscow for being behind the incident based on this assumption. The Russian side refuted all accusations, saying that neither the Soviet Union, nor Russia had any programs for developing this agent. Experts from the British military chemical laboratory in Porton Down failed to identify the origin of the agent that poisoned the Skripals.

Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, known for his criticism of Riyadh’s policy, was lost on October 2 after entering Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. On October 20, the Saudi authorities reported that the journalist had been killed in the building of the diplomatic mission following a conflict, but did not provide any details on the incident.

Riyadh promised to strictly punish all those involved in the death of Khashoggi. The Saudi prosecutor general reported that 18 subjects of the kingdom are currently under investigation. In addition, General Ahmad Asiri was removed from his position of Deputy Chief of General Intelligence, and Royal Court Advisor Saud Al-Qahtani was also removed from his position.