Bugajski: Vucic was once Milosevic’s propagandist, now Putin’s, undermining his role eliminates Russian influence in the Balkans

The expert on the issues of the Western Balkans, Janusz Bugajski, while reminding Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that he was a subordinate of the criminal Slobodan Milosevic, says that he has already turned into a propagandist of Vladmir Putin.

Bugajski, speaking to the Montenegrin media RTV Gradska, stressed that one of the ways to eliminate Russian influence is to undermine Vucic’s role as a destabilizer of the Western Balkans.

“Vucic was Milosevic’s propagandist, now he is Putin’s. I believe that his strategy is to try to delay this process as much as possible, to get as many concessions in other areas from the European Union, from the United States of America, to maintain Russian support to prevent Kosovo’s membership in international institutions and at the same time to discourage the five members of the European Union who do not recognize Kosovo”, said Bugajski.

Asked how it is possible for Vucic to be perceived simultaneously by Putin and American representatives as a partner, he replied that there are certain illusions about the Serbian President.

“If someone causes more trouble, then he gets more attention and then he gets more concessions. Vucic has learned to play that game with the West, especially with the European Union, but I think this is the end. There comes a moment when you see that Vucic is such a subversive and destructive force in the region,” he adds.

According to Bugajski, Western partners should start putting pressure on Vucic.

“There are many things he depends on, including funding from the West, money from the European Union, which can be reduced, they can embargo him if he does not meet certain standards that he must meet,” Bugajski stressed.

In the end, he said that Serbian politics is returning to the Middle Ages.

“I have the feeling that Serbian politics is going back to the Middle Ages – they are going far back in the perception of identity, human rights, individual freedoms. This, in my opinion, is not diversity. I think it’s a step backwards, a kind of uniformity. There will be more pressure to eliminate Russian influence in the region. And one of the ways to eliminate it is to undermine Vucic’s role as a regional destabilizer, which he unfortunately is,” he concluded./Telegrafi