Solana: Vuciq is using ties with Russia, China against Kosovo

He has stressed that Vuciq, despite getting closer to the European Union, has not shown any willingness to distance himself from Russia, while his country is also continuing to attract large investments from China. Both countries -- both Russia and China -- refuse to recognise Kosovo's independence.

Solana, former secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), has recalled, in an authorial writing published by Project Syndicate, that how the “during a visit to Belgrade in 2014, Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, declared that Russia, as in the past, will continue to view Serbia as its closest ally (2062>.

In addition to old cultural ties with Russia, Solana has stressed, Serbia depends on Russia for energy supply, as well as estimates on its power to veto itself as a permanent member of the UN organisation's Security Council. “As long as Serbia is viewed with a good eye by Russia, it can block Kosovo's membership at the UN”, writes Solana, currently chief of the Centre ESADE for Global Economics and Geopoliticals.

Like Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslavia once, present-day Serbia is officially declared a neutral state, Solana stresses.

It co-operates closely with NATO through the Partnership for Peace, while at the same time organizing military maneuvers with the Russian Army. And, Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq, while confirming it is clear in favour of European integration, has not shown any willingness to distance itself from Russia”, wrote Solana, once Spain's foreign minister, broadcast the Express newspaper.

In addition to Russia, China refuses recognition of Kosovo, he recalls. “Kina has shown her economic muscles, investing millions of dollars in infrastructure projects in Serbia, and in other parts of the region...”, Solana wrote, among other things.