In a situation when few people want to sit down with Russia because of the aggression against Ukraine and nuclear threats, Serbia is signing a document on consultations between the two countries foreign ministries in front of the cameras in the middle of New York. Bearing in mind that Belgrade has persistently refused to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation, the signing of the document set off alarm bells in the EU. Brussels also issued the first warnings and threats of freezing accession negotiations with Serbia.
State officials and media close to the Serbian authorities have been glorifying Aleksandar Vucic’s speech at the session of the United Nations General Assembly for days. True attention, however, was drawn to something else. Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov signed the consultation Plan for 2023. and 2024.
Not only does Serbia not giving in under pressure to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation, but it is now promoting cooperation with a country that is labeled as an aggressor against Ukraine and that threatens to use nuclear weapons.
Signing the document with the Russians caused sharp reactions from some officials in Brussels. Viola Von Kramon, a member of the European Parliament, described Belgrade’s move as a “serious scandal” and warned it could be a signal to freeze accession negotiations with Serbia.
“Entry into the EU does not go through Moscow,” she said.
Vladimir Bilchik, EP rapporteur for Serbia, sees the news of the planned Serbia-Russia consultations as a “major blow to the Western Balkans accession process”.
Few know what the authorities in Serbia wanted to achieve with this move. “Nova” interlocutors agree that at this moment Belgrade should not allow itself to sign anything that has nothing to do with gas and energy.
Schizophrenic foreign policy
Duško Lopandić, a former diplomat and member of the SRCE movement, explains that the Consultation plan, signed by the two foreign ministers, is a kind of technical agreement that is occasionally concluded. He insists, however, that the context is completely different now.
“Any arrangement with the Russians, if not about gas and energy, has political and non-political implications, especially if we look at who signed it and where. This arrangement could have been made at the level of some chiefs. In any case, in the context of war, aggression by Russia and nuclear threats, it is really quite unusual, not to say irresponsible, for this kind of arrangement to be concluded at this moment and to be published,” Lopandic told Nova.
He points out that signing this document can only harm Serbia and says that even now, at a lower level, “we are not included in some meetings where we should naturally be”.
“For some time now, our policy has been conducted in a way that causes us great damage, primarily when it comes to the enlargement process of the EU. Will this have a more specific effect? I don’t think so, but in general it leaves a bitter impression when it comes to Serbia’s actions. We don’t have the luxury of being Turkey,” Lopandic added.
Asked if this is a sign that Serbia will not impose sanctions on Russia, he says that “with our policy you never know”.
‘Today this way, tomorrow that way. I wouldn’t rule out any options. If we have determined one thing that our strategic interest is to enter the EU, we cannot conduct a schizophrenic foreign policy that will lead us to who knows where,” Lopandic warns.
That Serbia at this moment should not allow itself to sign any document with Russia that does not concern existential issues, according to Nemanja Todorović Stiplija, director of the Center of contemporary politics. Asked what consequences Serbia could suffer, he told Nova that he believed there would be both a government and a group in the European Parliament that would be very harsh on Serbia.
“Some of them are just waiting for the next move to take a more radical measure towards Serbia. For a country on its European path, this is not the right time to do anything with Russia, nor is it a necessity. Therefore, it should be reconsidered whether it really is on the European path and whether it really wants to become an EU member, so that he can start acting like one,” said Todorović Stiplija.
He said that the signing of the Consultation plan did not require the convening of a press conference in New York.
“It is a technical document on cooperation between the two ministries that could have been signed anywhere and at any time, and not to use the visit to New York, that is, the UN General Assembly, where the media’s attention is enormous towards Russia. I believe that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs took advantage of this moment, because at the moment few want to sit at the table with them. I think that every media attention of this type means to them” “he concluded for “Nova”./Nova/
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