Will the same Serbian policy towards Russia continue even after the elections?

There are growing accusations and facts that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has used Russian aggression against Ukraine in his campaign for the upcoming elections. Serbia has been left almost alone in Europe, refusing to join Russia’s international isolation over its occupation of Ukraine. Will this change after the elections in Serbia?

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, however, has decided to run in the next presidential election, although he has stated several times that he “does not believe he will run again”. The Serbian president, who is convinced that he will win another presidential term, led an uninterrupted campaign. It is known that he and his party are engaged in intimidation and blackmail to get almost every vote, because the system in Serbia has been decaying for a long time and the only culprit for this is Vucic himself.

It seems that he enjoys the great support of the people of Serbia, the truth is completely different.

In addition to counting on Russia’s support in blocking Kosovo’s membership in international institutions and organizations, Serbia is completely dependent on Russian gas. Country officials claim that they got it at a good price, which is exactly what Vucic is disputing, which way he will go, whether it is the way to the EU and the West, or Russia.

Last month, however, Serbia agreed for the first time to some European Union restrictive measures related to the crisis in Ukraine since its outbreak in 2014. On March 3, the EU Council extended the sanctions against former pro-Russian President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and other members of the Ukrainian government from the time of his mandate, and Serbia, which did not comply with this measure in 2014, has now done so.

All of this shows that Vucic’s policy of sitting in two chairs is coming to an end and that he has yet to decide whether to turn to the West or Russia in the future.

The leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Ivica Dacic, Vucic’s right-hand man, said he did not expect the new Serbian government to impose sanctions on Russia after the election, among other things because the Socialists, led by him, would participate in its work and decisions.

“We oppose sanctions against Russia. “This is also our state policy for the last eight years, since the time when the West applied sanctions against Russia,” he reiterated his position.

He said he would try to keep Serbia “loyal” to Russia and at the same time try to become a member of the European Union as soon as possible, which is impossible.

Convinced that they will win the election, Dacic as the next prime minister and Vucic still as president have a strong agreement to continue post-election co-operation and pursue a common policy, a policy whose beginning had no end, period, but only a comma that is easily erased.