Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic issued a sharp warning to European leaders, stating that Europe should not expect a rapid weakening of Russia, and stressed that the global community is at the very beginning of a much larger military conflict.
His comments were made on the “MD MEETS“ podcast, hosted by the CEO of German media giant “Axel Springer“ Matthias Döffner, just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky concluded his first official visit to Belgrade.
“If you ask me what I personally think, without going into details, we are at the beginning of a much larger war. I had hoped that steps would be taken by now to achieve peace, but that has not happened and will not happen soon. "We are on the brink of a global clash between Europe and autocracies like Russia," Vučić told the German journalist. According to the Serbian head of state, economic and military pressure on Moscow is not producing the results expected by the West on a scale that would lead to the collapse of the Russian state.
Belgrade's balance sheet and criticism of "treason"
Vučić's interview comes against the backdrop of violent political reactions in Serbia and abroad after his talks with Zelensky. The Serbian leader categorically rejected accusations from pro-Russian circles in the country that allowing the Ukrainian president to Belgrade constitutes a "treason of the partnership with the Kremlin."
„I am not here to please the Russians, the Ukrainians or anyone else. My only task is to protect the interests of Serbia. We are an independent state and I will not ask permission from anyone to meet with,” Vucic said. He recalled that Serbia remains the only country in the Balkans (along with Belarus) that refuses to impose economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, despite increased pressure from Brussels to unify foreign policy.
Economic dependence and military neutrality
Although Serbia officially supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including on the issue of Crimea, the country retains heavy structural ties to Moscow. “We continue to receive the vast majority of our natural gas from Russia. "In addition, Russian companies still own our oil industry, sold to them by previous governments in 2008," the Serbian president stressed.
Vucic also added that both warring parties - Russia and Ukraine - are under enormous internal economic and social pressure due to the daily human casualties, but a solution and a real compromise are not in sight before spring next year. He called on Europe to rethink its economic protectionism, which, in his words, is leading to the decline of the Old Continent in relation to other global powers.