Vučević with Kharchenko stress that Serbia’s long-term strategic commitment is to remain a militarily neutral country

Even Google cannot add up the frequency of meetings between senior representatives of Serbia, a constitutionally sovereign state, and a diplomatic representative of distant Russia.

A large part of the Serbian public therefore suspects, quite rightly and increasingly, that important political decisions are taken in collusion with Moscow, especially on security issues.

Although today’s President, then Prime Minister of Serbia  Aleksandar Vučić, in 2014 insisted: “Remember that Serbia is an independent and sovereign country – we are not ‘little Russia’, not ‘little America’, not any other country. We are Serbia and we wear our name with pride, which means that we decide for ourselves and I am confident that we will always be able to maintain our independence and stability and we will not see an enemy around us.”

The Russian media also cover the news from Serbia with great care.

When it’s dense, there’s  Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko  when it is difficult there is the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Porfirije. And that is the reality of Serbia, which is led sovereignly by Aleksandar Vučić.

The last briefing with Harchenko was held by the current Defence Minister, Miloš Vučević, and the former Mayor of Novi Sad, Vučević, who at the end of May at least formally took over as President of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). On Saturday, he thanked Bocan Harchenko for the continued support the Russian Federation is giving to the preservation of Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Recall that two days earlier, Vučić and Ivica Dačić, among others, were guests of Botsan-Kharchenko at the Russian Embassy in Belgrade on the occasion of Russia Day.

During his meeting with Botsan-Kharchenko, Vučević reiterated that Serbia’s long-term strategic commitment is to maintain its status as a militarily neutral state, without membership of any of the existing organisational and political states, according to the website of the Serbian Ministry of Defence.

Just one day earlier, the international tactical exercise “Platinum Wolf 23”, which has been taking place in Serbia since 2014 and involves members of the Serbian Armed Forces and the armed forces of several NATO member states, started in Bujanovac.

According to the Serbian Ministry of Defence, the exercise will last until 27 June at the “Borovac” training area and the “Jug” base, organized by the Serbian Army and the European Command of the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

Over the next two weeks, some 600 officers, NCOs and soldiers will practice tactics, techniques and procedures used in participation in peacekeeping operations.

This news was accompanied by a slight reprimand of Serbia in the Russian media, recalling that, as TASS reports (15 June), “after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, the Serbian president announced that Serbia was suspending military and police exercises with all foreign partners”.

Earlier, in response to a request from TASS, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic announced that Serbia would carry out joint “Platinum Wolf” exercises on its territory together with a number of countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, despite the moratorium on any international maneuvers previously adopted by that country’s government.

The Serbian Ministry of Defence explained the exclusion from the moratorium by the need to “fulfil international obligations regarding the participation of the Serbian Armed Forces in multinational operations”.

During his meeting with  Botsan-Kharchenko, Vučević briefed the Russian ambassador on “the current security situation in Kosovo and unilateral moves related to the community of institutions and institutions of destabilisation of the region”.

Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko  thanked the Ambassador for “the hospitality and the opportunity to discuss the current security situation in Kosovo”.

He said that “the only way to resolve all disputes is to de-escalate the current situation and apply internationally binding agreements, respecting international law on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia”.

The day before, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia was calling for decisive steps to restore normal dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

In her words, Kosovo’s Prime Minister “Albin Kurti is incapable of stopping the violence against the Serbian population”.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed that “there is no point in negotiating with the Kosovars, given that any of their `peace initiatives’ have proved to be false”.

On the same day that Serb protesters in northern Kosovo (29.05) carried out an attack on KFOR forces when 30 soldiers were injured, dissatisfied because mayors of Albanian nationality arrived at their jobs in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, was commenting on the situation in Kosovo at a press conference after his visit to Kenya.

He described the situation in the Balkans as “alarming” and said there could be a “big explosion” in the heart of Europe.

A day after the attack on KFOR forces by Serbian demonstrators, Vučić “gave a report” to   Botsan-Kharchenko   informing him, according to the Instagram profile of buducnostsrbijeav, of the escalation of “violence and brutal discrimination against Serbs in Kosovo”.

The social media post reads. Despite the most blatant violation of all international agreements, Serbia will strive to preserve peace and stability and will demand the immediate adoption and implementation of measures to guarantee the security of Serbs in Kosovo, which is a precondition for any further talks with representatives of the institutions in Pristina.”

In another address to the nation (18 September), Vucic said that “Serbia should stop publicly informing the international community about its strategic plans in the military sector”.

This is news that has been shared by many Russian media. Thus, the TASS news agency reports Vučić’s statement as follows: “We will no longer inform anyone about anything, except on the issue of raising or lowering our combat readiness level, and except for informing NATO, according to which we have an obligation to fully respect UNSC Resolution 1244 at all times,” Vucic said.

“We are trying to keep the peace, but we warn all those who clearly do not care about peace and want the Serbs to leave the north of Kosovo to be a little quieter and not so loud. This will not happen”, the Serbian President concluded TASS reports./The Geopost/