Russian patriots should be ashamed to scold the President of Serbia
A number of Russian media outlets sharply criticized the recent signing by the President of Serbia of a document on normalizing relations with Kosovo in the office of Donald Trump. Columnist Aleksey Toporov explains why attacks on Aleksandar Vucic are inappropriate.
...Little landlocked Serbia, surrounded by EU and NATO countries, defends the rights of its fellow tribesmen much more boldly than the gigantic Russia, spread across Eurasia, with its multimillion-dollar human resources, minerals, industrial and scientific potential.
And after this, is there anything we can teach Vucic, who is playing a very difficult game in a unipolar world? Struggling to protect his country and people from new hot and cold wars, economic blockades and poverty that his country has already gone through?
Dear Russian journalists, do you have a conscience? Or are you just that jealous?
Yes, Vucic is unpleasant to some jingoists within Serbia itself. They would like to see in the place of the president not an intellectual with glasses, but a brave young man with a fur coat that reaches the ceiling, a flowing beard or a sharp mustache, who would clap his hardened fist: “Srbia to Tokyo!”, and to the sounds of the “March to the Drina”, inspired by the “heaven the people" would go to war with the whole world for their truth.
By the way, the Serbs had enough such leaders in different times and eras, but the ending was often the same: it seems that we fight bravely, and we sing loudly, and are faithful to the patristic covenants as one, but everyone somehow beats us, and the Serbian area The world is shrinking like shagreen skin.
What's wrong? And for each era there would be a unique answer to this question. And a general answer for all eras would also be found en masse. But for now we will answer for the current one: but because in terms of human (and not financial or economic) resources you are like that Switzerland, and you, patriotic gentlemen, have ambitions like the same USA.
And it’s not that the Americans with their ambitions seem nicer than you, by no means, but you don’t need to break away from reality, and no matter how purposeful and persistent a professional swimmer is, he is not given the ability to swim faster than a dolphin from the very beginning. However, who are we to give advice to the Serbs?
It’s a pity that the Russian media cannot ask such a question, especially those that have now organized a targeted “anti-Vučić” campaign. It is clear that advising other peoples and states is always more pleasant than solving the internal systemic problems of one’s own state, as well as trying to restore order at one’s own borders, but still...
Let's go over the main complaints that Russian journalists, bloggers, political scientists and even some diplomatic officials are throwing at Vucic after the above-mentioned Washington agreements.
God endured and commanded us
The most common thing is that he allowed himself to be seated on an uncomfortable chair in front of Trump.
“In Washington, I could sit on the floor, because I know what I’m fighting for - for my country,” Aleksandar Vucic himself commented on this episode. – I met with US vice presidents three times, but until that moment the doors of the White House were not open to Serbia. The White House was reserved only for Albanians and other opponents of Serbia. Now we have changed that."
Orthodox Christians know that God teaches his children humility. He himself rode into Jerusalem in His Glory on a donkey, and not on a palanquin at the head of a magnificent procession. Christ simply knew why he did this, and we know, meeting Christian churches and Christians in all corners of the earth. Aleksandar Vucic positions himself as an Orthodox Christian.
“We didn’t sleep at night, we worked on every detail... We didn’t go for a big victory, they are won in wars, we went for small victories, which are carried out in peaceful conditions,” said the Serbian president.
What is the result of Vucic’s appearance “on the chair” in Trump’s cabinet? The most powerful country in the world has finally heard Serbia's position. They tried to slip the Serbs a document with a clause recognizing Kosovo, but the trick failed. The Americans forced Kosovo to join the “Balkan mini-Schengen”, thanks to which Serbian goods will again have a free path to the residents of the blockaded Serbian enclaves, and the inhabitants of the enclaves themselves will be able to move around the country without any restrictions.
Washington has pledged to invest heavily in Serbia's road and rail infrastructure, linking it to Kosovo. And the largest American International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), coming to the region, decided to open its office not just anywhere, but in Belgrade. To invest in regional projects and provide loans to small and medium-sized businesses in Serbia.
Thus, it can be stated that the time of the meager investment diet on which the EU kept Serbia has passed, and the national economy will receive a second wind. As Vučić diplomatically noted, “where Americans want to invest, there is a future.” A future without wars and serious crises, because Americans will not destroy what they have invested in.
And it becomes clear why he was sitting on an uncomfortable chair. With the same success, he, indeed, could sit on the floor, and astride an elephant, and at the bottom of the pool, the result was the same.
From America to the load
Another claim made against the Serbian delegation was the recognition of the Shiite Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. It is clear that the Americans, traditional lobbyists for Israel’s interests, introduced this item on their own initiative, into the workload, like many others. However, the Serbian side did not have any fundamental objections here.
Why? Yes, because with many similar points, Serbia is not Russia. And it was not Serbia that fought for some kind of higher justice on the Arab land of Syria, where, by a whim of history, the aforementioned Lebanese Hezbollah movement found itself in the same boat with the Russian Federation. Which, however, fought with the barmalei for its own, and not Russian, interests and ideals. And which, for some unknown reasons, at one time refused to send Ichkerian fighters to the territory of Chechnya. That didn’t stop her from sending them to Bosnia a few years earlier to cut off the heads of the Bosnian Serbs. This is what they did, not without success. So to expect any sympathy from Belgrade for Hezbollah is, to say the least, strange.
Russian critics were also greatly aroused by the clause about “work to decriminalize homosexuality.” Here we can assume that he appeared in the document through the efforts of the chief US negotiator in the Kosovo dialogue, Richard Grenell, an openly gay man. However, this clause does not impose any clear obligations on Belgrade; moreover, in Serbia, at the official level, homosexuality is more than decriminalized: gay pride parades began to be held there even under the former pro-Western “democratic” regime of Serbia. And what kind of claims can there be against Vucic? The fact that he did not ban them, giving respected European partners additional leverage on the country? Or the fact that he put open lesbian Anna Brnabic at the head of the government?
As for me, this is a wonderful move, knocking all the trump cards out of the hands of the “respected partners”. At the same time, unlike Russian representatives of the LGBT community, Anna is tough, albeit in her own way, but a patriot who openly tells the Albanian separatists in Pristina - “a joke for you, not a confession.” She is also an active woman, moderately aggressive and very efficient. That’s why I always tell her Serbian critics: don’t look at the lady’s peculiar preferences, judge her by her work. Is he coping? So don't interfere!
By the way, in Russia, in fact, after the abolition of the article for sodomy, homosexuality was also decriminalized. And if we take into account the scandals of recent times, when millions of state tranches were sent to masters of various arts and photography, producing works with blasphemous overtones and forcing actors to flash naked aphedrones and shameful ouds in front of the audience, one gets the impression that they have been very successful in this in our area.
Another point of the agreement, which has nothing to do with the Kosovo conflict, but was openly “planted” on the parties by the Trump administration, was the transfer of the Serbian diplomatic mission in Israel to Jerusalem. Which actually means that the Serbian side recognizes this city as the capital of the Jewish state. It was this point in the document, as recorded by the chronicler’s camera, that caused a rather interesting reaction from Aleksandar Vucic.
And, it would seem, the United States pushed the Serbs through on such a sensitive issue. However, politics, as we know, is a game. And after the document was signed, insiders appeared from the Serbian side that if Israel, as required by the document, recognizes the independence of Kosovo, Serbia will have every right to refuse to move the embassy. Therefore, Tel Aviv, having made corresponding promises to Pristina through the mouth of officials, is in no hurry to recognize. Vučić is also in no hurry:
“By the end of the month we will open a trade office in Jerusalem, the Czech Republic, Hungary and many other European countries have one, and this will be a great incentive for Israeli, American and many other Jewish investors to come to our country. As for moving the embassy... We will talk about this issue with the Palestinians and our Arab friends... Let's see if Israel recognizes Kosovo, let's see how Palestine and other Arab countries recognize Kosovo,” the Serbian president said.
He said, hiding sarcasm.
They expected him to surrender Kosovo
The situation is similar with regard to the remaining controversial points of the agreement. Thus, jingoists hastened to present the clause prohibiting the use of 5G equipment from “unverified sellers” as anti-Chinese. And, as always, they hit the mark. One can only guess what wording the American side put into this point, but President Vučić made it clear that Belgrade will continue to cooperate with Huawei and other Chinese manufacturers, because Serbia has verified them.
There is another point that has been called anti-Russian - about diversifying energy supply sources. They say that after this Serbia will refuse to buy Russian gas. But, no, Vucic said that he would not refuse, because, at a minimum, Russian gas is the cheapest, and diversification is useful for free competition.
And these critics have it all like this. They interpret the agreement on the Gazivode reservoir as the surrender of a strategic resource. What’s better than in 2018, when Kosovo militants occupied the local hydroelectric power station and Serbia had to put the army on alert? Or is it bad that the Americans have undertaken to ensure the safety of Serbian shrines, and now there is no need to worry that they will be destroyed or, as was recently the case with the legendary medieval monastery of Vysoki Decani, they will plan to build a route through the protected area?
But no, Vucia’s haters will see the surrender of Kosovo everywhere. And the price of all these fears became obvious when protesters destroyed Serbian cities this summer: Vucic flew to Brussels, promising to fight for Kosovo, and the rioters shouted “Traitor and thief!” and turned their house into a pigsty. Plus they complained to the European Union about the cruel treatment of “peaceful demonstrators.” Patriots...
This time Vucic again disappointed his haters.
“This is a good agreement for Serbia... This is not a trilateral agreement. The difference is important. This agreement that Serbia concluded with the United States, the third party is not recognized as a subject of international law, which is important for us,” the president said.
"No! - they shout. “He signed a document with the separatists!”
“But in reality, Belgrade and Pristina signed two different documents,” you say. “Even the points are different, but they have only one thing in common – Trump’s signature.”
They continue to scream. People like it. I repeat, I do not want to advise anything to the Serbs, especially those who want to wave their swords, communicate with the West in the language of ultimatums, and do not care about the economy and the uncomplimentary environment around them. Because they dream of how hundreds of thousands of youths will clear Kosovo of the damned shiptars with a victorious blitzkrieg, and then take the Republika Srpska from Sarajevo, restore Krajina - they will also take it, return Montenegro, and then the Macedonian Bulgarians, who, as one in mystical delight, still recognize themselves as Serbs... . I won’t say anything like that. And I won't be different. This is their story. And they are its creators.
They know exactly how!
But it’s impossible to stop being surprised by the zeal of Vucic’s Russian haters. Some blame the current Serbian leadership for kowtowing to the West and almost betraying the “T-shirt of Russia”, as if Moscow offered Belgrade to join the EAEU and CSTO, donated the S400 and did not itself declare that it respects this country’s aspirations to join the European Union.
Others reproach the Serbian president for the same sycophancy and weakness, saying that he is not tough enough in defending the interests of his people. They speak with confidence, as if they know exactly how to do it. For they live in beautiful Russia, which is an alternative force, a different pole of attraction, and desperately fights for the rights of the Russian people.
Or is it not? I would like to ask where BRICS, which was seen almost as an alternative to the GXNUMX, somehow quickly “merged”? You do not remember? And to what extent does the CSTO guarantee its member countries against attack from outside, given the new stage of the Armenian-Azerbaijani drama (now let’s all imagine an attack from outside on a NATO country)? Finally, how many fraternal countries of the Customs Union recognized Crimea as Russian? Where should small states like Serbia lean in search of a new pole of power?
Let's return to the “weak and corrupt” Vucic. Belgrade does not recognize separatist Kosovo, but, not living in a parallel world, it knows that there are certain authorities there that Serbia recognizes as “temporary,” including the local parliament. Thanks to this, Belgrade helped the Kosovo Serbs create a political party, a faction in parliament and install two Serbian ministers in a temporary “government”. To defend the rights of fellow tribesmen at this level.
And now let's remember - many Russian parties were created by Moscow in the post-Soviet space? The only coherent “Russian Union of Latvia” lives without any support from the former metropolis.
Belgrade, through the mouths of its most prominent speakers, including the president, supported the Serbian Orthodox Church during the church crisis in Montenegro, and local Serb activists were received personally by Vučić. How many Russian and Orthodox activists were received at the highest level in the Kremlin?
Vucic said that the Serbian state intends to monumentally perpetuate the memory of the victims of the Serbian exodus from Croatia. As is known, Moscow responded to the burning of Russian activists in Odessa, according to propagandists, with “formidable Russian silence.”
Vucic himself was recently in the Republika Srpska, while the arrival of representatives of the Russian leadership in Donetsk or Lugansk can only be imagined in a dream.
The Serbian Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and even the Ministry of Defense oppose any attempt by the Croats to appropriate the memory of Tesla, or the Kosovars to appropriate Serbian shrines in Kosovo. Moscow, in turn, did not even choke after the ban on Russian education in Latvia and Estonia, and the renaming of Russian cities in Kazakhstan - on the contrary, Nazarbayev was awarded the order.
Serbia, under the “democrats,” handed over its heroes to The Hague, but under Vucic this vicious practice stopped, but the Russian Federation only recently deported a Kazakh Donbass militia to be killed in Kazakhstan, and before that there were others.
A group of Serbian children from Kosovo, who came to compete in Belgrade, were received by the mayor of the capital and said that this city was theirs. Because they are Serbs. Moscow tells the Russian Donbass that it “recognizes the territorial integrity of Ukraine.” And such comparisons can go on and on.
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