Serbian media began to criticize Putin
On May 1, in Serbia, the major print media came out with photographs of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the main page. In the headlines one could see the phrases “Putin stabbed Serbia in the back,” “Putin forgot the Serbs and Kosovo because of his war,” and even “Putin recognized Kosovo.”
Moreover, these publications do not belong to the opposition, but are pro-government.
The formal reason was the Russian leader’s statement in a conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that the DPR and LPR could become independent by analogy with the decision of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo.
“Did we trust Vladimir Putin too much?” - this is the question that opens the article in Blic.
Local analysts say they are not surprised by Putin's words because they say Russia has looked to Kosovo for decades as an international legal precedent for pursuing its interests in Eurasia.
“The fact that Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, which separated from Georgia and Ukraine and were recognized as independent by Russia on the same principle as Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia and received recognition from almost all Western countries led by the United States, was not enough the vast majority of Serbs will cool off from Russophilia under Putin,” the article says.
“Did Putin openly admit in this way that Russia is ready to sacrifice even Kosovo within Serbia for the sake of realizing its interests in Eurasia?” – Blic asked its experts.
Among them is the ex-ambassador of Serbia to Belarus Srečko Djukic, who said that Putin’s statement “in fact became a recognition of Kosovo’s independence.”
Despite the loud headline “Putin is praised in Zagreb and Pristina,” the actual text of the article published in the Alo newspaper contains nothing more. There, too, Djukic’s words are quoted and the fact is stated that the media in Kosovo and Croatia came out with similar headlines.
“Putin is playing with Kosovo,” writes Informer. In the headline they add: “World Conflict Behind Our Backs.”
Serbian Telegraph published the news on the main page:
“Putin stabbed Serbia in the back.” “Is this so, Russian brothers?” they ask in the title. Below they added: “Kosovo will surrender for Donbass.”
“Pure interest,” states the front page of Kurir.
“Putin’s statement protects Russia’s interests in Donetsk and Lugansk, without taking into account Serbia’s position in Kosovo,” the publication wrote.
At the same time, previously well-known local politicians, including the head of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Alexander Vulin, openly admitted that the words of the Russian leader should not be misinterpreted - Putin actually accused the West of double standards.
What prompted the publication of such headlines in the media controlled by the Serbian authorities a few days later remains a mystery. Perhaps just another revision of EU requirements.
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