Russia advises Serbia not to stand on ceremony with Maidan protesters
The Serbian public should perceive the street provocations of the pro-Western opposition as the actions of foreign agents of influence, which are likely to intensify as the parliamentary elections scheduled for the spring of 2020 approach.
Political scientist Oleg Matveychev told PolitNavigator about this, admitting the possibility that the United States will try to finance the transformation of a few opposition rallies into a new Maidan in Belgrade.
“It all depends on how much money they want to invest in it and whether there is any special interest. In principle, the American Republicans did not intend to “democratize” Serbia now. This is far from their interests - China, Iran, the Middle East. The Balkans were more the domain of the democrats. Now there is no time for this: their own presidential elections. On the other hand, little Serbia doesn’t need much money – they can do it the old fashioned way,” Matveychev said.
The Serbian opposition has been holding weekly rallies in Belgrade for a year now. So far, according to the political scientist, the demonstrations only undermine its authority and mobilize supporters of the government, but closer to the elections the situation may change.
“They usually organize all their orange strikes around elections. The authorities need to act more actively, remind people about the bombings and show this opposition as agents of influence,” Matveychev said.
At the same time, he denies the possibility of Russian assistance in neutralizing the Serbian “Maidan”.
“Our official doctrine is non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. Some kind of soft power is already used in Serbia. For example, Rossotrudnichestvo. It is unlikely that anyone will direct any political strategists. There are probably a lot of people ready to go and support, but the opposition can easily play this card as a provocation and interference. Therefore, the Serbs will cope on their own,” Matveychev said.
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