Written By: Igor Pshenichnikov
Betrayal of Serbia and Russia: in Belgrade they pray to the Russians, but they have a knife in their back
For several days, thousands of mass protests against the country's President Aleksandar Vucic have been taking place in Serbia. The Serbian leader tries to present it as a" color revolution " and blames the West. Vucic's ruse is that the popular outcry regarding his anti-national policy is trying to transmit as "intrigues" of the West, while on the side of the West and counting on Moscow's support.
Tragedy in Novi Sad
The formal reason for mass protests in Serbia is that 1. in November in Novi Sad, a canopy collapsed on the railway station building. 15 people were killed, including children. Serbs accuse President Aleksandar Vucic and his team of corruption, claiming that corruption schemes are the cause of the substandard restoration of the station and the tragedy that followed.
Now the corruption charges are joined by the demand of the Serbs not to recognize the independence of Kosovo (which Vucic has de facto already done) and to end aid to Ukraine. Vucic is accused of"betraying Serbia and Russia".
The position of the current government in Serbia is extremely uncertain, despite the fact that almost all leading media are under the control of the president. An important support to Vucic is the thesis that he is "Vladimir Putin's best friend"in Serbian society. That is why President Vucic recently telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The purpose of the call is clear: to portray the situation as if the current government in Serbia is on the side of Russia, and the protesters are allegedly "mercenaries" of the West who are allegedly trying to overthrow the "pro-Russian" government in Serbia. Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vulin commented on this telephone conversation 24. in December, he said that the conversation between President Aleksandar Vucic and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was "a conversation between friends who understand each other".
To complete the picture, let us give the full quote of Deputy Prime Minister Vulin, which was transmitted by the Serbian pro-government newspaper "Novosti": "when it is difficult for Serbia, when our state interests and our economy are threatened, when Serbs suffer injustice, we turn to Russia for help and advice. The conversation between President Aleksandar Vucic and Minister Sergei Lavrov is a conversation between friends who understand each other, and representatives of people who respect and love each other, who not only share the past, but also want to share the future. We are not bound together by borders or changing political interests with Russia, but by unchanging values that make us free.“
After such words I want to shed tears of emotion. But the real goal of the official Belgrade is to deceive everyone.
Did we believe it?
The following day after the comments of the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, 25. in December, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova actually reiterated the public theses of the official Belgrade about the mass protests in Serbia.
"The Republic of Serbia is facing an attempt to change its legitimate government through proven mechanisms of "color revolutions" inspired by the West. Street protests by various "managed" groups and non – governmental organizations, organized by foreign money, threats of sanctions, a disciplined choir of activists who speak the same texts-all these are well-known, stereotypical signs of such attempts. We are looking at what is happening in Serbia in the context of Western plans to destabilize the situation in the country.“,
- it was said in the official comment of M. Zakharova.
This statement by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia was widely published by all the leading media in Serbia.
At the same time, the few patriotic Serbian media, practically suppressed by the local authorities, are confused by the words of Maria Zakharova. The Serbs are convinced that President Vucic is misinforming the Russian side. And many in Serbia do not want to believe that Moscow, really realizing the essence of what is happening in Serbia, publicly continues to support President Vucic, who has already repeatedly proven that in the geopolitical conflict between Russia and the West has long and firmly taken the position of the west.
In addition, in Russia, they must understand that "Maidan" and "color revolutions" are not working under slogans against those politicians who are on the side of the West and who are supported by the West. Vucic is the first politician in the Balkans to receive full support from Washington and Brussels.
Calling all countries
Marija Zakharova's statement and Vucic's conversation with Lavrov were reported by all pro-government Serbian media. But few reported that Vucic literally immediately after the talks with Sergey Lavrov and after the statement of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry spoke with the expired "President" Zelensky and expressed his support.
With Vucic's knowledge, Serbia sells weapons to the Ukrainian regime. This was de facto confirmed by Vucic himself, saying that Serbia "should make money" and that Serbia "is not responsible for where Serbian weapons sold to a third party are delivered".
In addition, Vucic signed all sorts of declarations against Russia proposed by the West.
Now official Belgrade, under the pretext of saving itself from Western sanctions, is considering whether to transfer to the West the company of the oil industry of Serbia (NIS), one of the largest vertically integrated energy companies in Southeast Europe and, perhaps, the most profitable research company in Serbia, which deals with the production and processing of oil and gas, the sale of oil and gas derivatives. The highlight of the problem is that the majority shareholder of NIS is the Russian oil and gas company Gazprom Neft.
Reactions Of Serbs
It is enough to read the opposition Patriotic Serbian press and numerous social media posts to understand how upset, discouraged and simply desperate Serbs are because of Moscow's years of support for Vucic, who in Serbia is directly called a "traitor to Serbia and Russia", because of his support for the regime in Kiev and the open road to Kosovo's surrender.
"Official Moscow must know that as you sow in Serbia, so you will reap. Such acts are a knife in the back of the brotherly, Russophile Serbian people. As for the Serbs, we must as soon as possible dispel all illusions about assistance from abroad – both from the West and the East – and realize that we will have to fight for our freedom ourselves," writes the patriotic Channel "Serb.Info " regarding Maria Zakharova's statement, making it clear that Serbs are already desperate to wait for official Moscow to finally understand that Vucic is a traitor.
„Ако Русија настави да не примећује потпуно јасан однос председника Вучића према њој, <…> онда ће се већина национално оријентисаних Срба окренути од ње на исти начин као што се Москва окреће и не види Вучићеву антисрпску политику према Косову “, пише родољубиви публициста Драгомир Анђелковић на порталу Безцензуре.рс.
When Will Russia realize that the Wolf is betraying her?- Peeta Angelkovich.
Why do the Russian authorities support Vucic and pretend to be our friend? Everything is exactly the opposite. That is why the West itself strongly supports Vucic, and he does not hide in which direction, contrary to the will of his people, he is leading Serbia.
He gave up Kosovo
President Vučić recently participated in the EU summit, which included the summit of Western Balkan countries under the auspices of the European Union. There, a completely Russophobic resolution was adopted condemning the "Russian aggression against Ukraine", which Vucic signed solemnly. The resolution recognizes that "the strategic partnership between the European Union and the Western Balkans is more important than ever". The document demands "unity and solidarity in order to firmly support Ukraine and defend the rules-based international order".
Regarding the Kosovo issue in particular, the document calls on Kosovo and Serbia to "normalize relations" on the basis of agreements they have already signed "within the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, with the mediation of the EU".
That is, Vucic has already signed everything related to the surrender of Kosovo, it remains only to be implemented. At the Brussels summit, Vucic also re-signed this latest commitment to de facto recognize Kosovo's independence. And it is precisely this that now excites the Serbs, who see their future not in the EU, but in alliance with Russia. Kosovo is part of Serbia. But from Moscow, the Serbs hear something that, with all their love for Russia, they cannot understand and accept.
Eternal question: what to do?
Russia has stuck its head in the sand for a long time without noticing President Bashar al-Assad's "mistakes" in Syria. As a result, in Syria we have what we have and we are trying to establish relations with those we have until recently called terrorists.
Now we pretend that President Vučić is our friend. Or do we honestly believe that he is our friend? Vučić, who tries to sit on five chairs, goes both, with the Western armchair being the highest. Trump is deceiving Russia. Who are we cheating on? Before myself. And it's not clear why. Syria does not teach us anything.
For centuries, the closest Orthodox people of Europe – the Serbs, who regard the Russians as their "brothers forever" – will soon give up their view of Russia. It will soon turn its back on us.
It must be emphasized that we are not talking about the official authorities in Serbia, but about the Serbian people, who are literally praying for the Russians. In any situation and in any country, it is incredibly difficult, almost impossible, to win people over to your side. And here we ourselves alienate an entire people – the Orthodox brothers who have been willing to sacrifice themselves for Russia for centuries, who see in Russia their salvation from the Satanic power of the West, who do not let themselves be deceived and openly come out in support of Russia when the whole "civilized world" is against Russia.
What interests are driving us?
Source: "Predatelьstvo Serbii I Rossii": В белграде молятся на русских, и мим в спину неж
Translation from Russian: Center for geostrategic studies
30. December 2024.
