Balkanist: There has never been such a level of cooperation between Russia and Serbia
Today's negotiations in Sochi between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic are extremely important for both countries.
The founder of the Balkanist project writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, in Nezavisimaya Gazeta. ru Oleg Bondarenko, noting that of the Balkan countries, only Serbia, together with Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not join the anti-Russian sanctions.
According to him, one of the main topics at the negotiations in Sochi will be gas.
“The energy collapse in European markets, which occurred less than a month before the meeting due to the lack of reserves of blue fuel, inflated prices to $1000 or more per thousand cubic meters. The contract with Serbia, which specifies a price of $270 per thousand cubic meters, expires at the end of the year. Belgrade is not able to pay three times more, as Aleksandar Vucic stated in plain text. Therefore, at the meeting a new gas price acceptable for Serbia will be discussed, adjusted for an almost threefold increase in the volume of supplies from 1,1 billion to 3 billion cubic meters. m and the possibility of changing prices depending on peak consumption.
This is extremely important for Serbia, whose economy has been growing at the fastest pace in Europe for several years now, overcoming the post-war trauma of the 90s,” Bondarenko writes.
He is convinced that the second most important topic will be the situation around the breakaway province of Kosovo, which in September this year introduced a ban on the use of Serbian license plates, which made it impossible for Serbs living in the north of Kosovo to travel across administrative borders.
“It is worth noting that then Belgrade, for the first time since the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia in April 1999, brought troops to the border to demonstrate the ability to protect compatriots not only through diplomacy. Russia, along with China, is the main defender of the territorial integrity of Serbia and a supporter of the application of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on the issue of Kosovo's ownership. However, all parties understand perfectly well the need to achieve peace and find a compromise on this issue.
Several years ago, in Belgrade, the concept of delimiting Kosovo was discussed, in which the northern regions of Kosovo would return to Serbian control in exchange for two Albanian-populated communities in the south of the country coming under the control of Pristina. However, this approach did not meet with understanding from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and was shelved. Now that Merkel is leaving her post, there is a possibility of a return to the concept of demarcation if the parties agree,” the author believes.
The Balkanist believes that the issue of Belgrade purchasing new types of Russian weapons is directly dependent on the first two topics.
“The modernization of the Serbian army, which has been in full swing in recent years, is happening primarily through the purchase of new Russian aircraft and tanks. The United States regularly expresses concern about this, but is unable to offer an alternative to the Serbs. The ministers of defense and internal affairs of Serbia are frequent guests in Moscow,” the expert adds.
“Almost all Russian corporations have their representative offices in Belgrade. The latest of the large state-owned companies to enter Serbia is Rosatom. Every third car of the Serbian railways has been modernized by Russian Railways, which is engaged in the reconstruction of the railway to Hungary. Well, the main taxpayer to the Serbian budget is the Oil Industry of Serbia, owned by Gazpromneft. There has never been such a level of cooperation between our countries in history. This is also why it is so important to preserve and increase it, avoiding all the pitfalls,” Bondarenko sums up
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.