Serbia, the only country in the Balkans that did not condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine

Twenty-three years ago, Vucic’s predecessor, Slobodan Milosevic, had carried out horrific aggression against the people of Kosovo. To this day, official Belgrade has never expressed regret over the massacres that took place in Kosovo during the 1999 war, caused by Serbia. While Milosevic died on war crimes trial process in International Criminal Tribunal, his successor Vucic apparently is developing official Belgrade politics with Milosevic’s manual.

Vucic’s rejection of EU proposal to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine, and non-imposition of sanctions for Russia, is typical of Serbian foreign policy stance. Serbia’s attitude by holding tights on both sides is controversial and quite unserious, for the fact that you cannot respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and at the same time not punish Russia`s aggression in this case. Anyone who expected a more optimistic response from Vucic, after 48 hours would be naive. 

Since the beginning of the Russian aggression over Ukraine, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called the National Security Council four times, undecided on which side to take and finally in coordination with the Serbian Orthodox Church, decided not to condemn Russian aggression on Ukraine, which has been condemned by the entire democratic world. Recalling that in Kosovo war, the Serbian Orthodox Church blessed Serbian criminals before they went to kill innocent people on their homeland Kosovo, similar thing is happening with the Russian Orthodox Church in the case of Ukraine. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called Moscow’s opponents in Ukraine “evil forces”, speaking on the fourth day of the Kremlin’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor, says AFP news agency.

While Russia continues to fire missiles and attacking also civilians, in an independent and sovereign state, the US and the EU should open their eyes to how pro-Russian Serbia is reacting to this. The EU needs to be clear and supportive on pro-Western democracy countries in the Western Balkans, to ensure that something similar does not happen in Southeast Europe. No pro-Western state needed 48 hours to condemn Russian aggression on Ukraine. 

Kosovo aligned itself with the western world standing with Ukraine, month ago, while condemning the Russian aggression on Ukraine, Kosovo recently imposed sanctions against Russia, although they have no major effect, but aligning with Western allies in this cause is of great importance. Whereas, the five EU states that have been reluctant to recognize Kosovo’s citizenship, now is the time to do so, for very clear reasons, to prevent Russian influence in the Balkans and precisely for fragmented reasons.

The Kremlin’s violation of international law by attacking a sovereign state has spread fears to Balkan countries that have sovereignty as fragile as Bosnia and Hercegovina. Apart from the economic aspect, Montenegro and Kosovo are not excluded from the risk of any provocation, due to the fact that Russia has been trying for years to destabilize this part of the Balkans, respectively in order to prevent from NATO membership. Concerns about Kosovo’s possible membership in NATO were expressed a few days ago by Putin’s close friend, Aleksandar Vucic.

While NATO has activated joint defense capabilities, and has begun to increase troop capacity in Eastern Europe, the situation is Montenegro and Serbia remains a shame point in relation to the war in Ukraine. As warned by security experts in the region, pro-Russian forces organized by the Democratic Front (instrumented by Belgrade) in Montenegro protested in support of Putin, at the same time as another protest was taking place against his aggression in Ukraine.

Vucic`s and the Serbian government illusion to return territory from the former Yugoslavia are typical of those of Putin to return the states of the former Soviet Union. These dangerous claims by Serbia must be extinguished by the Western allies once and forever. Any new situation that may be the cause of such claims by Serbia should not be neglected as it has been done so far. 

On the other hand, in diplomatic terms Kosovo should be mobilized now, when the West is speaking one language to protect democratic values, the basement of which is the Kosovo state building. This could and should be a turning point for the West attitude towards Serbia, in which circumstances the condition should be set for the west, or against. As well a good moment for Kosovo to fill the gap that divides Kosovo from the EU and NATO. The focus of Kosovo’s foreign policy should be on securing recognition by the five EU member states that do not yet recognize Kosovo’s independence, and extraordinary commitment to join NATO. The consequences of NATO membership delay, having a neighbor country like Serbia, can be seen in the case of Ukraine.