Biserko on the agreement between Serbia and Russia: This means that we will not impose sanctions to Russia for another two years

The signing of the agreement with Russia at this moment indicates that Serbia will not impose sanctions to Russia in the next two years, predicts Sonja Biserko from the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, while Nikola Burazer from the Center for Contemporary Politics thinks that, with such an attitude towards Russia, it is illusory talk about any possibility of Serbia becoming a member of the EU.

In the Kvaka 23 series of FoNet News Agency, he reminded that with Selaković’s statement at the United Nations that Serbia will not recognize referendums in Ukraine, on the one hand, and by refusing to impose sanctions on Russia, on the other hand, Serbia continues to balance between East and West.

In the Kvaka 23 series of FoNet News Agency, he reminded that with Selaković’s statement at the United Nations that Serbia will not recognize referendums in Ukraine, on the one hand, and by refusing to impose sanctions on Russia, on the other hand, Serbia continues to balance between East and West.

Bearing in mind geography, geopolitics and fundamental economic and political interests, he presented in the conversation with Tamara Skrozza that Serbia has no alternative.

His opinion is that Serbia is not in a position to give up its ambition of EU membership and that it is better for it to stay on that path, even if it stands still for the next few years.

“Of course, another question is whether the authorities in Serbia are really interested in EU membership or whether they don’t even care about it, and therefore the gun they are threatening from the West is empty,” notes Burazer.

As he noted, the pressure on Serbia does not only come from the West, but it is expected to at least symbolically show a certain commitment to Russia, as its traditional ally and friend.

At the same time, Biserko points out that Russia has entered many institutions, security structures, culture and the media space, and that the cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church is very intense.

Because of all that and the pressure from various sides, she believes that it will not be easy for Aleksandar Vučić to make the decision to impose sanctions on Russia, which does not justify him, “because a person has to risk some things in order to force out what he is supposedly deciding for”.

According to her view, Serbia has traditionally, historically and emotionally been pro-Russian, but Russia has now entered a “strategic vacuum”, which was left behind by the EU and the USA after the financial, migrant and covid crisis.

When it comes to the recent agreement with Moscow, her assessment is that the document is more useful for Russia than for Serbia, because it compromised Serbia as a country that claims to be oriented towards the EU, while it portrayed Russia as a country that has at least some friends in Europe. .

Biserko does not know whether it will finally be decided that Serbia somehow harmonizes its foreign policy with the foreign policy of the EU. Although she claims that the state leadership should be given “some space” to turn towards the Union, she predicts that the state leadership will not be able to do so.

As she explained, in the past 10 years, Russophilia has gone too far, fueled by progressives and Vučić.

“If Serbia does not opt for the EU in the end, it would really be an irrational decision contrary to the interests of Serbia and its citizens, which unfortunately would not be the first time in history,” Biserko concluded in an interview with FoNet./Nova.rs/