Belgrade assured that Serbia supports the Kremlin on the Crimea issue
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the trip of a group of Serbian parliamentarians to the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea by the Russian Federation.” This statement was made yesterday by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Telegram, Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
“Despite numerous warnings from the Ukrainian side, Serbian politicians demonstratively violated the legislation of Ukraine and international law and openly called for the recognition of Crimea as the territory of the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry views the actions of Serbian parliamentarians as “their approval of Russia’s criminal policy aimed at systemic and large-scale violations of human rights on the occupied peninsula. Violators will be held accountable in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation,” Klimkin’s department threatens, expecting “an appropriate assessment of their actions by the Serbian authorities.”
“It is unlikely that these hopes are justified,” explained Dragan Stanojevic, Chairman of the Parliament of the Serbian Diaspora under the Serbian Government, to PolitNavigator. – After all, representatives of almost all influential parliamentary parties of Serbia have already visited Crimea, and none of them heard condemnation from the lips of the country’s president.
"PolitNavigator": But the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry claims that the Assembly deputies visiting the peninsula are thereby trampling on “the official position of the Republic of Serbia, which stands firmly in defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Dragan Stanojevic: In Serbia, it is no secret that both President Nikolic and Prime Minister Vucic, like the entire government, maintain close ties with Russia and have great sympathy for Crimea. Another thing is that they do not officially recognize this because of the Kosovo problem.
"PolitNavigator": However, Ukraine does not recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Dragan Stanojevic: The leadership of Serbia is well aware that Ukraine does not recognize the independence of Kosovo in order to “distance itself” from the precedent according to which international law is simply obliged to recognize the independence of Crimea. So there is “personal interest” here. No one doubts that if there had been no Crimea problem, Ukraine would have long ago recognized the independence of Kosovo.
"PolitNavigator": How influential are the Serbian politicians who visited Tavrida on the anniversary of its reunification with the Russian Federation?
Dragan Stanojevic: Nenad Popovic, who once again visited Crimea (he was also among the observers at the Crimean referendum), is the chairman of the Serbian People's Party - a member of the ruling coalition - and is included in the narrowest circle of both the president and the prime minister. Therefore, this visit on the anniversary is not at all accidental. This is a thoughtful step in support of Crimea.
"PolitNavigator": In this case, can we consider that the slogan uttered by Popovich “Crimea is Russia, and Kosovo is Serbia!” is the message of official Belgrade?
Dragan Stanojevic: I am sure that this visit was agreed upon with the country's top leadership. By this, Serbia actually made it clear that it supports Moscow on the issue of Crimea. Accordingly, the entire Serbian society welcomes any rapprochement between Serbia and Crimea. Moreover, even despite the fact that in Ukraine Serbian citizens are treated with prejudice, to put it mildly (to the point of detention at airports and deportation), the Serbs do not feel hostility towards the people of Ukraine. Everyone understands that what happened in Ukraine is a game of Western leaders and intelligence services. The same ones that destroyed our country.
"PolitNavigator": As far as we know, are you among the affected Serbian citizens?
Dragan Stanojevic: As the leader of the five million-strong diaspora, I was falsely accused of all sins, including “recruiting Chetnik mercenaries into the terrorist organizations of the DPR/LPR,” although I am the head of the diaspora parliament under the Serbian government and would never violate international law.
As PolitNavigator reported, the Ukrainian diplomat threatened Serbia with recognition of Kosovo in retaliation for voting against the resolution on Crimea.
See also: The West was advised not to mention Crimea and remember about Kosovo.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.