Serbia suffers from friendship with Russia, follows from the opinion of the minister of economy of this country. The question is whether she will suffer more if she is not friends with Russia.
Vucic does not comment on the proposal for sanctions against the Russian Federation
Serbian Economy Minister Rade Basta has proposed imposing sanctions against Russia. This is the first open statement of its kind by a public official and a deviation from Belgrade’s official position.
Basta entered the government from United Serbia, which is part of the coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) led by the head of diplomacy Ivica Dacic . The SPS has been in coalition with the Serbian Progressive Party of the current head of state, Aleksandar Vučić, for several election cycles .
Basta’s proposal was supported by the minister without portfolio and SPS vice-president Djordje Milicevic.
The socialist movement of Alexander Vulin – also a member of the ruling coalition – has demanded the minister’s resignation because he is demanding that Serbia join “illegal sanctions against the Russian Federation.” So far, Vučić’s party has not commented on the proposal of the Minister of Economy of Serbia.
Belgrade politics are about to change
Changes in Belgrade’s politics are obviously coming, if only because Vucic and other politicians do not rule out that they will have to give in to EU pressure. Since this is a condition for Serbia’s entry there.
The first signs are already there. Serbia has announced that it will no longer buy Russian MIG-29 fighters, because Russia does not even serve those that are already there. Serbia’s “pragmatism” also manifested itself when Vucic admitted that Serbian factories sell ammunition to Ukraine through intermediaries in Turkey.
But other conditions are set for Serbia to join the EU – this is the recognition of the independence of the province of Kosovo and Metohija . Therefore, by yielding on sanctions, Belgrade will show that it can make concessions on Kosovo as well. If Vučić recognizes Kosovo’s independence in one form or another, then this will result in protests in Serbia. However, when you look at what Zelensky is doing with his country, you are no longer surprised by anything in Serbia either.
What Serbia will lose and what will gain
From an economic point of view, having ceased to be friends with the Russian Federation, Serbia will lose cheap Russian gas, which makes the country’s chemical and petrochemical industry competitive, producing 800 thousand tons of products annually and providing employment to the north of Serbia – the most developed region of the country. If there is no cheap electricity, it will bring the region to its knees, say Serbian economists.
Serbia has no seaports, so LNG supplies will not replace pipeline gas.
Considering that the Serbian oil industry (“Oil Industry of Serbia”, NIS) belongs to Russia (a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft), then it will be forced to send diesel to the Armed Forces of Ukraine through third countries (as ammunition) or nationalized, like the Lukoil refinery in Italy, Bulgaria. And here Moscow’s reaction can be harsh – up to the termination of support for Belgrade in the UN Security Council.
And this immediately threatens Serbia with the return to the table of the resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica, which the Russian Federation vetoed.
Serbia’s “wins” list includes softening relations with the US and the EU and access to relevant EU funds, which should receive 1.5 billion euros by 2027. With this money, Serbia will be told what to do in the economy, which will become agrarian. This will turn the country into a raw material appendage of Western countries, it will finally lose sovereignty.
“Russia has three allies: the army, the navy and the Serbian people”
As Doctor of Political Sciences, an employee of the Institute of European Studies, Stevan Gayich , told Pravda.Ru, Basta is a NATO lobbyist for Serbia, he is a member of the American embassy, but his statement will not have the effect he expected.
According to Sevan Gajic, Serbia did not impose sanctions not because our government is good, but because it is afraid of the people.
“The Russian Tsar Alexander III said that Russia has two allies: the army and the navy, but I always said that there are three allies: the army, the navy and the Serbian people, who became even more pro-Russian, that is, they simply mobilized from the beginning of the special military It was precisely because of such a strong public opinion that the authorities did not dare to impose sanctions, despite strong pressure from the West,” the expert said.
Serbia is the only European country that has not joined the sanctions against Russia. The latest Sprint Insight polls show that 81 percent of citizens are opposed to imposing sanctions on Russia, with many of them also in favor of good relations with Russia.
Source : pravda.ru
