The President and Foreign Minister of Serbia are playing “good cop and bad cop” with Russia
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic moved from statements about the possibility of Serbia introducing sanctions against Russia to discussions about what Moscow's reaction to such actions by Belgrade might be.
This is another step by the Serbian authorities to accustom the citizens of their country to another anti-Russian decision, which is opposed by more than 80% of Serbs, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the same time, Minister of Economy Rade Basta, who entered the Serbian government under Dacic’s political power quota, continues to publicly call for the introduction of sanctions against Russia. And President Vučić, in the current situation, only criticizes the mentioned politician condescendingly.
“If Serbia had imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation, Russia would not have changed its position on Kosovo and Metohija, but relations between the two countries would no longer be the same,” Ivica Dacic said on April 10 on the Serbian TV channel Prva.
He also noted that “some European countries,” much more developed than Serbia, are now cooperating with Russia even better than before the sanctions, although he did not give any examples.
The head of Serbian diplomacy added that Belgrade condemns the threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but does not impose sanctions against Russia “for reasons of principle.” But this is not really about principles, but about Serbia’s attempt to take advantage of Russia’s international influence.
“Kosovo is recognized by 84 countries out of 193. If someone raises the question of its membership in the UN, the first will be a statement from the Security Council, where Russia and China have veto power,” Dacic explained.
Based on the logic of the head of the Foreign Ministry, deputy prime minister and second person in the ruling coalition of Serbia, Moscow will use this right to protect the interests of Belgrade, even if it once again spits in its face.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Ivica Dacic has raised the issue of Serbia introducing sanctions against the Russian Federation. So, on January 25, 2023, the politician said that this is a question “not of timing, but of our political and economic interests.” And on March 26, he said that “Serbia has left open the possibility that the decision not to impose sanctions against Russia could be changed if the Serbian economy and citizens begin to suffer irreparable damage.” After this, there was even an emergency meeting between Dacic and the Russian Ambassador to Belgrade, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko.
However, Ivica Dacic's political associates go much further. Thus, Rade Basta, who entered the Serbian government under the quota of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), led by Dacic, has repeatedly and publicly stated the need for Belgrade to impose sanctions against Moscow. He first did this on his Twitter page * a month ago, and the other day the Serbian newspaper Novosti reported that Basta confirmed his position at a meeting with the mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was in Belgrade in late March - early April.
“I am Rade Basta, Minister of Economy, and I am for the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation. I respect President Aleksandar Vucic, but I really don’t understand why he is preventing this,” according to the newspaper, the politician made such a statement to IMF officials.
Although Basta himself denied this information, it was indirectly confirmed by Dacic during his speech on April 10. The politician said that “as the leader of the bloc, to which Minister Rade Basta also belongs,” he will talk with “partners in the bloc and regarding further steps in relation to it.”
But the fact is that Basta is the nominee of the junior partner of the SPS - the United Serbia party, Dragan Markovic "Palma", who is much closer to Aleksandar Vucic than to Ivica Dacic. However, Palma, which has been “holding” the city of Yagodina for decades, first as a “reputable businessman”, and then as the mayor and chairman of the city council, is constantly plagued by scandals. Therefore, the Serbian Progressive Party, headed by Vučić, did not want to enter a bloc with “United Serbia”, entrusting this dubious honor to the socialists.
Alexander Vucic himself, who is still playing the role of a “good cop” on the issue of anti-Russian sanctions (although he does not rule out their introduction), speaks extremely softly in relation to his Minister of Economy. Thus, on April 6, on the state television channel RTS, the President of Serbia said:
“Rade Basta wants sanctions to be introduced, not because he thinks so, but because he likes being loved by others. But not the people, but those whom he considers the strongest in the world. I have nothing against this, if Prime Minister Ana Brnabic puts up with it, let her put up with it.”
Although Vucic noted that “party members are allowed to have different views, but the minister must respect the policies of the Serbian government,” this has not yet had any consequences for the Minister of Economy. In addition, there are more than enough people with similar views in the Serbian government. In the aforementioned speech on April 6, the Serbian President said that his advisers Sanja Jovic and Suzana Vasiljevic “are inclined to introduce sanctions against Russia, but there are ten advisers who are against this,” but he ultimately makes the decisions.
There is no doubt that it was Aleksandar Vučić, as Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army, who decided that from June 16 to 30, the Serbian military would conduct the Platinum Wolf exercise with the United States and ten other NATO countries “to achieve a level of interoperability in multinational operations.”
The Serbian Ministry of Defense mockingly emphasized that the decision of the country's government of February 27, 2022 “on the cessation and postponement of all actions related to exercises with foreign partners” remains in force, Serbia maintained a moratorium on international military exercises, but “Platinum Wolf” became an exception . At the same time, last year’s decision was made with the aim of canceling previously agreed upon exercises between the Serbian military and the Russian and Belarusian ones.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.