Bursaç for Geopost: Vučić will never turn his back on Putin – The Balkans risk remaining hostage to the Russian-Serbian world

Every alliance, every pact with Vučić regarding joint entry into the EU is an anchor that pulls you down, at best, or to the bottom, says Dragan Buršač, a Bosnian journalist and columnist, in an interview with The Geopost.

He adds that Vučić knows this well, "we are not going anywhere, and God forbid, if you are with us, you will not go anywhere."

Bursaç emphasizes that the countries of the region, "I mean Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo," must take themselves to heart, take themselves to their own power of judgment, and take themselves to what their progress and prosperity means.

Our interlocutor refers to events in several countries around the world this summer and fall where, with the aim of causing various forms of unrest, Serbian citizens were also involved.

"The events in Moldova, France and Germany are very connected, they were announced in September and the actions of pro-Russian activists, of course, including Serbian citizens, were throughout the summer – they were in June, July and August. Of course, this is Russia's direct influence, mainly indirect on Serbia, aimed at destabilizing these countries and not only these countries."

He believes that Russification in Serbia is so strong that anyone who turns their back on Russia, and in this case it is Vučić, unconditionally loses power.

"That's one thing. On the other hand, anyone who turns their back on Brussels, especially in the United States, at this moment of widespread sanctions against Russia, remains in total isolation, left to their fate. Which, again, could mean a loss of power. So Vucic played a game here."

FULL INTERVIEW:

The Geopost: Moldova, France, Germany, three countries in the same month – September – where Serbian citizens tried in different ways to cause unrest. How do you see this and do you see a Russian stamp on it through Serbia?

Scholarship: The events in Moldova, France and Germany are very connected, they were announced in September and the actions of pro-Russian activists, of course, including Serbian citizens, were all summer long – they were in June, July and August. Of course, this is a direct influence of Russia, mainly indirect on Serbia, aimed at destabilizing these countries and not only these countries. This is a fact and has its own microhistorical and macrohistorical scene, it is not just a situation captured in September. We should know that the citizens of the Republic of Serbia and the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska have been volunteers since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, this is nothing new. In fact, it is a matter of prestige in the 'Serbian world'. So, you have a large number of young people who fight as war dogs, that is, as mercenaries on the side of Russia in parts of the occupied Ukrainian territory, and you have people who fight for ideological reasons and who, as returnees, come both to Republika Srpska and to Serbia, but then continue their activities as soldiers of the 'Serbian world' wherever the opportunity arises.

So, this is actually, unfortunately, a completely logical genesis of something that happened, and it culminated this summer, which was announced by the intelligence services. However, there is something that is indicative, I have published it in my articles – it is interesting that both the government and the opposition, which should have been indicative, do not pay much attention in Serbia when such things happen. Moreover, there were also hints, specifically to me, 'how could I know that these are Serbian citizens and where is the firm of Serbian or Russian services', when they know very well that this is not the case. In the end, it was the French intelligence services that confirmed for themselves and clearly that these were Serbian citizens, that the Serbian intelligence service was involved and that this Russian-Serbian influence was present, which is completely obvious. So, it did not take much intelligence or analytical skills to reach this conclusion. However, the logical question arises as to why the so-called opposition in Serbia does not ask this question to Vučić or the authorities, so everything else bothers them, but somehow it does not bother them, and then we get to the heart of the matter – and the heart of the matter is that, unfortunately, the people of Serbia are largely Russified and Putinized, so they are largely determined, whether they like Vučić or not, towards Putin and towards Russia, and any interference in this actually means the loss of that much-needed party base. So, all these events that we are talking about are actually almost invisible in the Republic of Serbia, especially in the entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Republika Srpska, where it is actually the opposite, where the one who fights on the side of Russia and performs some actions on the side of Russia becomes and remains a hero, which is really devastating.

The Geopost: In this regard, the following month an anti-Turkish and Islamophobic campaign followed in Montenegro, which almost completely coincided with Vučić's hardening of tone towards Turkey (sending weapons to Kosovo). How do you see this?

Scholarship: Yes, as if on command. We saw, the conflicts were simply staged, this intense Islamophobia and this intense hatred towards Turkish citizens, because of some quarrel, because of some fight. In the end, it turns out that we, we don't even know what the fight was like, in the end, it turns out that the man was not stabbed to death, in the end, it turns out that it wasn't even a Turkish citizen who did it, if that matters at all.

However, we see the burning of a Turkish citizen's car, we see the ad hoc decision to freeze Montenegro's visa-free regime (with Turkey), so we see a completely surreal situation where, I say, everything is happening ad hoc just a few days after the option when Vučić revealed, which is a completely public and accessible matter, that the arms deal, or rather the arms sale, was concluded by the Republic of Turkey and Kosovo. In fact, these are well-orchestrated things of the 'Serbian world' and we see that the fighters of the 'Serbian world' on the ground, specifically in Montenegro, are doing an excellent job for the cause of the 'Serbian world'. And again, this is nothing new, and all the pressures that followed from Belgrade and on Montenegro, but also on the surrounding countries where the 'Serbian world can put its paw', were completely expected, synchronized and they participated in it at this moment. So, something that we used to see, I would say, over a period of months, is now happening on the level of weeks or even days. And we see how the fan groups are reacting to them. In fact, these are hooligans and pitch contractors who are ready to do whatever they couldn't do in Moldova, Germany or France wherever they can, and unfortunately this is Montenegro at the moment.

The Geopost: Did Vučić overestimate Serbia's importance in relation to the US and Russia – the US gave him the General Staff and got nothing in return, while the Russians are blackmailing him for the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS)?

Scholarship: So, here we have to see one thing that Vučić hopes for? Vučić hopes for survival and staying in power, unconditionally, that's it, and if he can get something else. Moreover, Vučić hopes for the support of the majority of the Serbian people who are completely Russified. Therefore, he is here to explain to this people that he must, whether he wants to or not, go to Brussels and that he must, for the sake of his power or for the Kouchner family or someone else, do some work related to the General Staff, and equally he must stand firmly on the Russian side with the NIS.

Remember, NIS is an octopus, an intrusive activity of the Russian Federation that is not characteristic only of the Vučić government. So, remember that this sale of NIS, has a whole genesis since the so-called Democrats and the Democratic Party and everything that happened here.

So, what do I want to tell you? I want to tell you that Russification in Serbia is so strong that anyone who turns their back on Russia, and in this case it's Vučić, unconditionally loses power. That's one thing.

On the other hand, anyone who turns their back on Brussels at this moment of the general introduction of sanctions against Russia, especially in the United States of America, remains in total isolation, left to their fate. Which, again, could mean a loss of power.

So Vučić played a game here in the sense that, first of all, he somehow believed that America, above all America, would say, 'come on, let that NIS go as it goes, let it be, if it's Russian interference in Europe, let it work.' And that's what his advisors, if they have any, probably did wrong and that's what they advised him to do: there will be good relations between Putin and Trump and Serbia will be forgiven for that pro-Russian influence of the state, the ruling party, but also the opposition.

And there he played and is now in a position to explain to citizens that there will most likely be queues for fuel or there will be no fuel at all, that the era of the 1990s will begin…

However, the citizens of Serbia, to put it mildly, are not very interested in all this, there is no work ethic there, they will stay with the Russians at the cost of points and coupons, at the cost of driving on odd and even numbers, at the cost of all this. Vučić probably understood this at some point and now he will speak to complain that he is in great danger, but he will not turn his back on the Russians. So, Vučić can do it privately, but at this moment he will not do it so as not to lose power and another thing that is probably more important for him for his skin, not only for his political skin, he will not turn his back on Putin because he knows how those who turned their backs on Putin get by, and this is not just about political sanctions.

The Geopost: Several times this week, Vučić has reiterated the idea that the best solution is for everyone from the Western Balkans to be admitted to the EU together, because he believes this is the only sustainable solution. What is the message? Everyone for the 'Serbian world', as Vulin puts it?

Scholarship: Basically, what Vučić means is what Vulin says. There is no difference. So, the moment Vučić offers, whoever is open-hearted, that we all enter the European Union together, this translates into, since Serbia will never enter the European Union, not because someone doesn't want it, but because Serbia doesn't want it. So, the majority of the citizens of Serbia don't want it. You have to have the will of the majority of the citizens to enter any organization, especially the European Union. If the citizens don't want it, none of this is happening. So, everything we multiply by zero is zero. So, if the citizens don't want to enter the European Union, Serbia won't want to enter the European Union. If Serbia doesn't want to join the European Union, and Vučić says that when we join, we will all learn this, this means that no one will join the European Union.

Any alliance, any pact with Vučić regarding joint entry into the EU is an anchor that is pulling you down, at best, or down to the bottom, into some kind of Russian world, or what Vulin proposed roughly. I guarantee you that at this moment, if there were a referendum and the choice were between a Russian-Serbian world, whatever that is, and the European Union, Vulin's option would win with a spade, that they would hold such a referendum and that Vulin knows, that the Russian current knows, but God forbid that Vučić knows, and Vučić actually said with a rhetorical mask that we are not going anywhere, and God forbid if you are with us, you are not going anywhere either.

Now, it's up to the countries of the region, I mean Bosnia and Herzegovina, I mean Montenegro, I mean Kosovo, to take into account, to consider what their progress, their prosperity means. And their progress, their prosperity is, whatever we think of it, the European Union, pro-Western values, Western values ​​as a whole, the NATO pact, Montenegro is in the NATO pact, in a way Kosovo is in the NATO pact. So, this is what Bosnia and Herzegovina has to do, of course it will be very difficult with the Republika Srpska entity, but these are those things, and on the other hand, it is anyone who decides in any way to make a pact and copy with the 'Serbian world', which has been connected for the next two, three centuries, certainly in one, which was once an expression, now I will reincarnate it in the 'people's prison', only this time the people's prison would undoubtedly be Serbia and the 'Serbian world'.

/The Geopost