Belgrade has not signed on to an EU declaration assigning responsibility for the death of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny to President Vladimir Putin, a move Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said wasn't a "tragedy."
Navalny died on February 16 in an Arctic prison in Russia under suspicious circumstances. Russian officials said he died of natural causes, the so-called "sudden death" syndrome, while taking a mandatory walk, without giving other details.
Officials then refused for days to release Navalny's body to his mother, raising further suspicion on the cause of his death.
In a joint declaration on February 16, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Navalny "was slowly murdered by President Putin and his regime, who fear nothing more than dissent from their own people."
Diplomatic sources in Brussels told RFE/RL that under EU procedures, third countries that do not officially confirm their alignment with the bloc's common position on an issue are considered as noncompliant.
The deadline for third countries to have declared alignment with the EU's position on Navalny's death expired on February 28 without Belgrade confirming its acceptance of Brussels' stance, sources told RFE/RL, adding that other Western Balkans countries did officially align with the EU's position.
Two exceptions, besides Serbia, were Turkey and Armenia, the sources said.
Serbia's noncompliance should not be seen as "a great tragedy," Vucic told journalists on February 29 in Tirana on the sidelines of a Western Balkans summit.
"Until now, we have not agreed on such issues, and now I really can't tell you about this case, because I don't know. But, I know that we haven't done that so far, I would be surprised if it were different," Vucic said.
"I think it is very important that Serbia calculates carefully, conducts its own independent policy and evaluates each case separately," Vucic said.
Serbia's Ministry for European Integration and the Foreign Ministry did not respond to RFE/RL questions about the EU declaration regarding Navalny's death.
Serbia, which is a candidate country for membership in the 27-member bloc, has not complied with any of the restrictive measures or declarations against its traditional ally Russia that the EU has introduced since the Kremlin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.