On June 5, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's visit to Serbia was blocked due to serbia's neighbors Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro banning their aircraft from passing through the airspace of these countries, and Serbian President Vucic expressed strong dissatisfaction. However, on June 16, Deputy Prime Minister Mikhailovic of Serbia and minister of energy publicly stated that it was a good thing for Lavrov to cancel his visit to Serbia, and said that if Russia regarded Serbia as a friend, it should not come at this time. Why does she, who is in a high position as deputy prime minister, openly criticize Russia? What is the significance of Lavrov's visit and the friendship between Russia and Serbia as a whole for Serbia? What does it mean to be blocked by neighboring countries? In this regard, Vladimir Kerszyennin, a high-level adviser to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a senior member of the former Yugoslav Socialist Party, and a poet and astrophysicist, expressed some views.
【Editor/Observer.com Li Huanyu Translation/Philippe (Serbian international student)】
Observer Network: Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov was unable to visit Serbia because Serbia's neighbors did not agree to open their airspace. What do you think of the interference of Serbia's neighbours in this diplomatic activity?
Kerszyonen: The three neighboring countries that made the decision were Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro. They are all NATO members and are either members of the European Union, which has imposed sanctions on Russia in air transport, and the top priority of these small states with limited sovereignty is to comply with the decisions and demands of Washington, London and Brussels.
These neighboring countries are actually developing friendly and cooperative relations with Serbia at the same time, but this no-fly ban cannot be simply justified by sanctions, because their actions have involved interfering with the exercise of legitimate diplomatic rights by third countries, so this can be regarded as an unfriendly move against Serbia and Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Serbian President Vucic have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the act.
Observer Network: What topics will Lavrov discuss during his planned visit to Serbia? Now that the visit is blocked, what impact will this have on Russian-Serbian cooperation?
Kershlyenin: Lavrov's visit was originally planned to focus on bilateral cooperation. The cooperation between Russia and Cyprus is very developed and covers a wide range, so it is necessary to coordinate regularly through high-level dialogue, especially in the context of unilateral and illegal sanctions imposed by the West on Russia and hindering the realization of Russian economic cooperation; Another important point was the exchange of views between the two sides on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija and Ukraine, namely, the issues of greatest concern to the two countries, which were not directed at third parties.
Russia and Serbia have indicated that they will not take countermeasures that could jeopardize normal exchanges between States because they respect the basic principles of international law. This has been proven in practice. Last week, for example, a meeting of the Open Balkan Initiative was held in Ohrid, with Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia as the main participants, and the Prime Ministers of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina also participated as observers. A meeting of the South-East European Cooperation Process was also held in Thessaloniki, with the participation of all Balkan countries.
Ohrid "Open Balkans" Summit (Part I) and Thessaloniki South-Eastern European Cooperation Process Meeting (Part II)
As for Russian-Serbian cooperation, it is so extensive, so intense and of great significance that it is difficult to have a serious impact on this level of relations. Serbian Foreign Minister Serakovic is expected to visit Moscow in the near future, but the obstacles to normal diplomatic communication between Russia and Serbia cannot be ignored.
NATO is desperately trying to obstruct Russian-Serbian relations, which is why I think Russia and Serbia must reserve the right to respond at the right moment. But not against the countermeasures of our neighbors, they are only the executors, but against NATO itself, that is, the countries that really make decisions in NATO.
Observer Network: When talking about Lavrov's visit to Serbia, Vucic mentioned German Chancellor Schultz's visit to Serbia many times, is there a connection between the two events? Is there a game between Germany and Russia in the choice of the date of their visit to Serbia?
Kershlyenin: In his recent contacts with Vucic about his visit to Serbia, Schulz said that even if Lavrov succeeds in visiting Serbia, he will still insist on visiting Serbia. But it is clear that the Western power centers do not want to see Lavrov and Schultz visit Serbia on their backs and forths, leaving room for objective observers to compare the effects of the two visits.
Lavrov had planned to express fully friendly support for Serbia's sovereign independence and territorial integrity, while Schultz explicitly demanded that Serbia impose sanctions on Russia and recognize the independence of Kosovo and Metohija, a demand for the latter that Vucic had to refuse.
Schultz's visit to the Balkans, considered an attempt to encourage them to join the European Union, visited five Balkan countries in two days. However, as a result of Schultz's request in Belgrade, his visit to Serbia had the opposite effect of expectations, and the number of Serbian people who did not want to join the EU increased further.
Schultz visits Serbia
Observer Network: Another thing that is linked to this is the Open Balkan Initiative. Lavrov said that the EU does not want Russia to support "opening the Balkans", and a journalist in Kosovo described Russian support as the "godfather" of "opening the Balkans".
Kerszyonen: The so-called Western Balkan countries, including Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania (some also include the Serbian provinces of Kosovo and Metohija), have long been so far away from the EU of their dreams that some countries have not even started the negotiation process.
For those external forces who wish to see instability in the Balkans, the "Open Balkans" initiative, initiated by President Vucic of Serbia and supported by the leaders of Albania and North Macedonia, is inappropriate, as it enables the countries of the region to cooperate closely with economic cooperation around various administrative obstructions and political conditions, thus satisfying the interests of the regional population and stabilizing the regional situation.
In and around the Balkans
Interestingly, the U.S. has expressed support for the initiative, and U.S. interest in the Western Balkans has waned (compared to other hotspots), which may be why the United States no longer wants turmoil in the Balkans after deliberately withdrawing from the region, even if the turmoil is caused by the United States. Instead, Britain and Germany had reservations about the initiative, fearing that the region's federation would weaken Anglo-German influence in the region. At the same time, all Western countries are afraid and want to block Russia's potential influence in the region, but it is difficult for them to do so, because modern Russia is the bearer of the spiritual and moral values of Orthodox civilization.
Outside of Russia, orthodox beliefs and traditions dominate only two large entities, Namely, Ukraine and the Balkans. Ukraine is now under the influence of NATO and neo-Nazis, and we can see what this has led to. In the Balkans, there is a strong and independent Serbia, which is based on the strategic partnership between Russia and Serbia and China, and can inspire other peoples in the Balkan region. Because of this, given the future and peace of the Balkans, Europe and the world, Russian and Chinese support for Serbia is crucial at a time when Western countries are increasing pressure on Serbia.
The distribution of Orthodox churches in Europe, the darker the color, the greater the density
Observer Network: The friendly relations between Russia and Serbia are well known, and they have been tested many times this year under heavy pressure. What do you think underpins Russian-Serbian relations? What does Russian-Serbian friendship mean for Serbia?
Kershlyonen: Russian-Serbian friendship, or according to our common traditions, we would say that Russian-Serbian brotherhood has a very long history. It can be counted from the conversion of the two peoples to the Orthodox Church and the establishment of the nation, that is, from the time of Saint Sava, who is a very important figure in our (common) history, and has been for eight centuries since then.
Saint Sava, the first Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Because of this, it is not surprising that the Church of St. Sava in Belgrade is one of the largest and most magnificent Orthodox churches in the world, and is about to be built in recent years with the help of Presidents Of Russia and Putin.
Church of Saint Sava, Belgrade
Serbia, like other Balkan countries, spent centuries under ottoman Turkish occupation. Russia has helped the Balkan countries to liberate, revolt and restore their countries. Russia then participated in World War I because of Serbia, and in World War II, serbia's anti-fascist movement was one of the most important allies of the Soviet Union in the anti-fascist struggle in Europe. In the 1990s, when NATO invaded the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Russia was forced to submit, but the Russian volunteer army still went to Serbia to fight, the Russian people also fully supported Serbia, and finally even the Yeltsin regime accumulated energy to help Serbia sign UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
As the supreme leader of Russia today has acknowledged to us, the fate of Serbia and its resistance to NATO in the 1990s eventually awakened Russia and made it lose its illusions about the possibility of a constructive relationship with the West, and moved toward strengthening its own military, political and economic values. Because of the sacrifices we made in the 90s and the lone resistance to the West for an entire decade, Russia felt they owed us a debt. So now, after they have become stronger, they have chosen to give us any help they can. For the people and the Government of Serbia, this is an important guarantee that we will one day eliminate the unjust consequences of NATO's aggression and dismemberment of the continent and recover Kosovo and Metohija.
However, the obstruction of Lavrov's access can be seen as an alarm. It shows that in the context of the world hybrid war waged by the United States and NATO against Russia in Ukraine, coordination between the main powers of the new world – namely Russia and China, as well as all other independent and autonomous states, including Serbia – needs to be achieved as soon as possible to prevent the emergence of new victims.
Observer Network: On June 16, Serbian Energy Minister Mikhailovic publicly criticized Lavrov's plan to visit Serbia, believing that under heavy pressure in Cyprus, if Russia is thinking about Cyprus, it should not visit Serbia.
Kershlyonen: As an individual, I have to defend everyone's right to be heard, but as a diplomat, I believe in this minister, and she is also unfortunately a deputy prime minister, who has made intolerable diplomatic blunders.
President Vucic has publicly expressed, on behalf of the entire Serbian people, strongly dissatisfied with the blocking of the visit and criticized those countries that have put pressure on Serbia to cancel the visit. These are the same countries that say nothing about Lavrov's visit to Turkey, a NATO member.
After Vucic made his statement clear, Ms. Mikhailovich publicly expressed her personal opinion, saying that the cancellation of the visit was a good thing, and even criticized Russia for planning the visit. More directly, as a member of the ruling party and deputy prime minister of the government, she made statements that were diametrically opposed to those of the president. In so-called democracies, politicians who engage in such behavior need to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities.
Serbian Energy Minister Mikhailovic
You have also noticed that in the Serbian government and the main ruling parties, there are some individuals who disagree with the authorities and openly express their favorable views in favor of the Western powers. Among these people, Ms. Mihajlovic holds the highest position, but if they were to vote for them individually, they might not get a single vote in the election. However, they did not hide that they did not care about the support of the people, but about the support of the American Embassy, which had openly helped them many times.
In the current deteriorating international situation, the attitude of Ms. Mikhailovic and others has annoyed the Serbian people quite much. Serbia recently held elections, and a new government has yet to be formed, which is expected to be formed by the end of July. If in recent years President Vucic had, with his authority, brought these individuals without the support of the people into power, perhaps in order to show the Western powers that we were interested in cooperating with them, it would be very difficult to do so now, and I personally hope that he will not have to do so again.
If Russia and China take a more active stance toward Serbia, Serbia will have the opportunity to shed many of its inner fears, and the actions of some individuals will lose all meaning. Whether emotional, moral or political, the attitude of the Serbian people is generally very clear, and the problem arises in the economic sphere. Because serbia's current exchanges with the EU are much greater than those with Russia and China combined.
In addition, in the economic field, if the EU decides to impose sanctions on Serbia because of Russian-Serbian relations, it will be difficult for Russia itself to make up for Serbia's losses without China.
Given Serbia's resistance to Western aggression in the 1990s and its current status as independent and autonomous, I believe that Russia, China and Serbia should further accelerate economic cooperation, for which we already have a good basis for cooperation and political relations at the traditional level.
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