A big mess is brewing in the Balkans
Major international players have been actively changing their diplomatic corps in the Balkan countries in recent days.
Political scientist Oleg Bondarenko told PolitNavigator about this.
“It feels like all the world powers are preparing for something in the Balkans. The Americans sent as ambassador to Serbia a former curator of the Russian opposition, who worked as deputy head of the US diplomatic mission (Anthony Godfrey - ed.). Probably, this appointment was made taking into account the need to work with the Serbian opposition. The ambassador to the UK was also replaced. Everyone is preparing for something,” Bondarenko said.
He believes that the replacement of the Russian ambassador in Belgrade, Alexander Chepurin, with Alexander Bosan-Kharchenko may be associated with American rotation, although it was planned long ago.
“I do not rule out that they were waiting to see who the Americans would appoint. They were going to change the Russian ambassador for two years. Chepurin is a classic diplomat; Serbia is not a country where such an ambassador is needed. There, the ambassador must represent Russia’s position, give interviews, go on air, speak a lot, and hold official and unofficial meetings.
The new ambassador, although he is a career diplomat, is much more suited to the current situation. He is a professional Balkanist and served as ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina for many years during the difficult post-war processes. He was a very influential politician in Bosnia, whom everyone respected,” Bondarenko noted.
Political scientist Armen Gasparyan believes that both the United States and Russia want to strengthen their positions in Serbia against the background of the latest events in Kosovo.
“The United States is most likely planning to strengthen its position there on the wave of rising protest sentiments among pro-Western forces. And also in the wake of what is happening in Kosovo. This is a normal practice for them - to send people who are geared towards this kind of activation. Russia, for which Serbia is important, also plans to strengthen its position in the region,” Gasparyan told PolitNavigator.
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