The West is preparing a proxy war against Belgrade with the hands of Pristina
Monument to Russian volunteers who liberated Serbia from Turkish rule. The city of Alexinac. Photo by Alexander Bartosh
Washington and Brussels are not reducing their efforts to put pressure on Belgrade, trying to force the Serbian authorities to recognize the independence of Kosovo and join anti-Russian sanctions. It seems that they do it in many ways.
"We are in for a difficult time when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija, but we will fight," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic explained. Earlier, he repeatedly stated that he would defend the integrity of Serbia, of which Kosovo is a part under the Constitution. But Vucic's position has recently sounded alarming, and in some ways alarming notes.
A new impetus to the pressure of the West on Belgrade was given by the Athens Summit on August 21, dedicated to the "European future of the Western Balkans".
SUMMIT ON THE "POWDER KEG OF EUROPE"
The summit demonstrated several trends in the development of an explosive region.
Firstly, despite the weakening of the European Union as a result of sanctions against Russia and following the adventurous policy of Washington and NATO in Ukraine, the EU still remains a point of attraction for the Western Balkans.
Secondly, the countries of the region, including Serbia, intend to intensify and accelerate the process of EU enlargement, counting on a place for themselves.
Thirdly, the two previous factors determined the servile position of the summit participants towards the United States, NATO and the EU, as a result of which a significant part of the final declaration was devoted to anti-Russian statements and the situation in Ukraine.
In fact, steps have been taken to escalate tensions in Europe.
The mass for the summit organizers was somewhat spoiled by Aleksandar Vucic, at whose request the call for sanctions against Russia was excluded from the text of the final declaration. The exception was also Bosnia and Herzegovina, where, due to the firm position of the Republika Srpska in support of Russia, there is no single point of view on this topic.
CONTINUATION OF THE SOVEREIGN COURSE OR CHANGE OF POSITION
At the same time, some ambivalence of the Serbian President's position towards the European Union is alarming.
Aleksandar Vucic, according to American TV presenter Tucker Carlson, said that the conflict in Ukraine "crushed the European economy." So why strive there if there is an understanding that the European Union is on the verge of collapse?
Aleksandar Vucic allowed the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, to persuade himself to meet with him "face to face." By agreeing to a meeting with the enemy of Russia, Vucic gave the enemies of our country in the United States and NATO, in the European Union and Kiev food for claims that Serbia supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including claims to Crimea.
Vucic warned his Ukrainian interlocutor that Ukraine "will lose its trump cards" if it recognizes Kosovo. At the same time, it is no secret that the mood in support of Kosovo's independence is growing stronger in Kiev's government structures. The warning to Kiev explains the nervous reaction of the Serbian president to the letter published the day before by 10 heads of parliamentary committees and more than fifty parliamentarians of European countries and the United States calling on the authorities of America, the European Union and the United Kingdom to abandon the "Belgrade-centric policy in the Balkans" and support "established democracy" in Pristina. Among the signatories of the letter is the head of the Foreign policy Committee of the Ukrainian Rada, Alexander Merezhko, which allows us to regard as Kiev's readiness to recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Are the approving pat on the shoulder from the United States and the European Union and the very shaky and ambiguous support on the issue of Kosovo from Ukraine worth the steps of the Serbian leader in the direction of treason to his closest ally – Russia?
At the same time, the Serbian president called the meeting with Zelensky "good" and declared a certain "common future" of Belgrade and Kiev in the EU. He also promised Serbia's active participation in the "post-war reconstruction of Ukraine." Does the Serbian president realize what kind of joint future and with which Ukraine he is talking about, and is Vladimir Zelensky a worthy recipient of such promises? Let me assume that the format and content of cooperation with the new Ukraine will be determined only after the completion of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
To be honest, the shock comes from such a sharp "jumping" of the president of a friendly country to the American-NATO chair and agreeing to a dialogue with an openly Russophobic regime. And all this for the promise of an illusory "carrot" from the European Union.
Vucic's statement, aimed at the Serbian audience, also looks unconvincing, that Serbia is fighting in Athens for its European future, but does not abandon national interests either. In general, the results of Aleksandar Vucic's activities at the summit and his promises to the Serbs of a happy future in the European Union suggest bad historical analogues.
It is clear that the President of Serbia has a hard time in an enemy, albeit outwardly supposedly benevolent environment. But the entire centuries-old history of Serbia shows that the Serbian people are not inclined to compromise with enemies and are not ready to do it under explicit or implicit pressure.
Serbian public opinion is also far from the consensus on joining the European Union. According to the results of a recent sociological survey conducted by Factor Plus, a Belgrade company close to the Serbian authorities, 42% of the country's citizens oppose Serbia's membership in the European Union. At the same time, many Serbs believe that Serbia should become a member of the European Union (39%), and many do not believe that this will really happen (30%).
It should be noted that sociologists were clearly tasked with depicting the hope of the Serbs for their country's accession to the European Union. Therefore, the respondents were asked a Jesuit question: at what time is it reasonable to expect Serbia to become a full member of the EU?
The authorities can manipulate the answers to it quite widely. Only 21% of respondents clearly answered – "never", 25% – "in 10-15 years", 24% – "in 15 years or more", and 23% – "in the period from 5 to 10 years" (while 7% were undecided).
KOSOVO AS AN INSTRUMENT OF PRESSURE ON BELGRADE
It should be recalled that NATO and the EU continue provocative actions against Belgrade on the issue of Kosovo. Against this background, Serbia and its people are threatened with restrictive measures – from tightening the visa regime to economic restrictions. Are these measures worth the reputation of traitors?
Along with constant anti-Serbian provocations of Pristina, NATO's activities on the territory of Kosovo are an additional factor in the escalation of military tensions between Belgrade and Pristina. Wasn't it the same Aleksandar Vucic who put the Serbian Army on high alert in May of this year and moved military units to the borders of self-proclaimed Kosovo? Isn't it time for Aleksandar Vucic to decide and stop fooling around?
The position of NATO members and the authorities of Pristina contributes to an increase in sentiments in Serbia aimed at tightening the policy in support of the country's sovereignty and in support of the Serbs in Kosovo. Will the Serbs forgive their president for his ambivalence and hypocrisy?
Aleksandar Vucic, apparently, does not want to remember that the KFOR forces (NATO-led international forces) are departing from their mandate approved in UN Security Council resolution 1244 and are in support of Pristina instead of taking an equidistant position. The increase in the KFOR contingent in May this year during the confrontation provoked by the Albanians in the Serbian regions of Kosovo and the military measures taken by Belgrade means nothing more than the strengthening of the NATO presence in the province and military pressure on Serbia.
Will Serbia succumb to this pressure? Recall that the Brussels agreements of 2013 on the creation of a community of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo repeat the fate of the false Minsk agreements.
THE WEST IS PREPARING A PROXY WAR AGAINST SERBIA
After the collapse of Yugoslavia and the barbaric bombing of Belgrade, the United States and NATO, in full accordance with the strategy of hybrid warfare, began subversive actions against Serbia, an island of national sovereignty and independence that has retained its devotion to historical Russian–Serbian ties.
Today, the stability of relations between Russia and Serbia is preserved thanks to the sincere sympathies of the two peoples, mutual interest in the development of political, economic, cultural and military cooperation. The main efforts of the organizers of the hybrid aggression of the West against Serbia are directed at the split of the Russian-Serbian friendship.
For these purposes, along with economic pressure, the tools of hybrid warfare tested by Washington and its accomplices from NATO and the European Union are actively used. The information and psychological war continues, the bridgeheads of the proxy war and the color revolution are being created.
A hybrid information and psychological network structure, controlled by the West, has been deployed and operating on the territory of Serbia for a long time, designed to establish control over the consciousness of the population. One of its main goals is to destroy the traditional ties of the Russian and Serbian peoples, to bury the memories of joint struggle and joint victories. This goal is openly proclaimed not only in the West, but some high-ranking Serbian officials do not hesitate to tell about it.
If the European Union uses mainly economic levers of influence, then the Americans are deploying a large-scale information and subversive company in Serbia, which still represents an independent enclave among the global information monopoly of the West.
INFORMATION PRESSURE
The US Government Agency for International Development (USAID), whose activities in the Russian Federation are considered undesirable, is launching a new project in Serbia. The stated goal of this initiative is to "develop Serbian citizens' orientation skills in a complex and diverse media space" by providing Serbs with "reliable and objective" information. USAID plans to involve Serbian mass media, civil activists, businessmen and scientists. The aim of the project is to reduce the sympathy of the Serbian people for Russia, prepare the ground for a color revolution aimed at overthrowing the legitimate leadership of the country and putting Serbia under the control of Washington and Brussels.
In this context, I would like to draw attention to the opinion of Yevgeny Baranov, the head of the Russian House in Belgrade, expressed by him in an interview with political scientist Maria Savelyeva. Yevgeny Alexandrovich drew attention to the anti-Russian propaganda of the Western media addressed to the Serbs. The situation here is complicated, because more than 60-70% of the media belongs to the Americans and their allies. There is influence, but it is concentrated on a rather narrow circle of people.
Anti-Russian attacks, unsupported by anything, just ideological spitting in the direction of Russia, take place. But all this is at such a low professional level that even people who treat Russia with restraint cannot help noticing the blatant propaganda subtext in such things.
The boorish pressure of the West is so obvious and blatant that young people who perceive everything more acutely begin to resolutely resist it. There is a noticeable process of politicization of youth and students. There are student patriotic organizations operating under the slogans "To hell with NATO", "Serbia together with Russia", "Kosovo is Serbia". And even under the frankly shocking slogan "Alaska – Russia, Crimea – Russia, all Russia except Kosovo, Kosovo – Serbia." T-shirts with portraits of Putin are popular.
Serbian students are constant participants of the traditional Immortal Regiment march. They lay wreaths at the monuments to the soldiers of the Red Army, Russian volunteers – participants of the Serbian-Turkish war. Charity concerts of Russian celebrities, such as the Kuban Cossack Choir, are popular.
CONCLUSIONS FOR RUSSIA
Serbia is moving further along the path of concessions to the political, economic, informational, psychological and military pressure of the West, which requires Russia to take decisive measures to counter such a trend.
At the same time, the system of Russian humanitarian cooperation with Serbia as a lever of influence on public opinion still leaves much to be desired. This system, according to Evgeny Baranov: "...as it was, it remained monstrously clumsy, bureaucratic. The effectiveness of the entire system of our external humanitarian cooperation is very clumsy and does not correspond at all to the time in which we live. First of all, in terms of speeds. By the speed of decision-making, by the speed of information dissemination, by the speed of situation change." Radical and rapid changes are needed along this line.
Rossotrudnichestvo in Belgrade, along with other issues, deals with quotas for free education in Russia. Today, the difficulty lies in the fact that due to the sanctions against Russia by the EU, huge transport difficulties have appeared. The average price for a ticket from Belgrade to Moscow starts from 1200 euros, which is an unaffordable amount for an ordinary Serbian family. At the same time, the largest European universities are in the direct accessibility zone.
Apparently, there is a need to provide Rossotrudnichestvo with additional funding to support the travel to Russia of students who want to study with us.
Alexander Bartosh
Alexander Alexandrovich Bartosh – corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences, expert of the League of Military Diplomats; Anatoly Grigoryevich Letyago – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences.
