It sounded like “provocation against Russia”

It says: Ardian Kastrati

Analysts and the pro-Putinian opposition in Serbia, Vucicin, according to them, are identifying it in front of Serbian citizens as <x0-provocational against Russia”, and the entire “approval of Russia” is being staged by power in Belgrade due to the Russian stance that Kosovo “the issue of Kosovo” should be resolved in line with Resolution 1244, which does not recognise Kosovo's independence.

It is not only the known Russian media and analysts who have begun attacking Vuciqi for his wish for reaching a potential agreement with Kosovo. In Serbia and Kosovo a large number of Serbian public figures (including much of the opposition) have already joined the Russian choir. Serbia's “University Professor of Mitrovica”, in Mitrovica, Dejan Mirovovic, called attention to the fact that Aleksandar Vuciq personally did not accept Russia's assistance destined for the fight against corruption. As Mirovovic pointed out, in his writing, Serbia's president was limited only through a gratitude to “Twitter”, to Russian aid, while when he received much smaller aid from China, Xi Jiping “brother and friend”, and he also did not save a pleasant word for the United Arab Emirates Sheikh, the prime minister of the United Kingdom and the president of the United States. In addition, in the evening Serbian state television, RTS, featured the film of Vitaly Mansky, “Putin's witnesses”, extremely popular among the liberal Russian audience, directed against the current president of the Russian Federation, writes Mirovic.

On the other hand, there have been sharp reactions in Serbia regarding the way Vuciqi media have reported in Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Bocan Kharchenko's recent statements concerning the Kosovo dialogue, Serbia. One of these reactions has recently come from the “Centre for Geostrategic Studies” in Belgrade. According to the centre's director, Dragana Trifkovic (also Russian FSB associate), the title of interview with Kharchencon, “Resoluta 1244 must be replaced with a new”, published at the portal “Politice”, on May 9th, is manipulation and in full opposition to the official position of the Russian Federation and that this title has been taken out of context, having no connection with the content of its interview with Russian Ambassador Kharcenko.

According to Trifkovic, a new interview with the Russian ambassador to Serbia was published three days later, so on May 12th, in which he explained that the only basic “for a solution must be Resolution 1244”, but still “Politika” set the title: the final “solution for Kosovo and Metohija must be approved by the UN Security Council<5>, which does not speak of the substance expressed in the interview. Not only through media, but, according to Trifkovic last year, Vuciqi provoked Russia in the form of a fabricated spying link, when Serbia's president claimed there were indicators for Russian subvert actions in Serbia. These tests by Trifkovic (Russian FSB co-worker) are seen to be in full spirits and resonance with Russian analysts' writings, and the same seeks to convey the strong message to Serbian public opinion that Vuciqi is preparing Kosovo's surrender and the great betrayal of Russia. In the operation of manipulations, it cites the discovery of Serbian weapons in the hands of the Islamic State in Syria and Yemen by Russian deputy Dum, Yevgeny Primakov, which in fact Primakov did not, because those weapons were traded illegally from Serbia, but for the fact that Russia and Serbia are competing in the sale of weapons in the Near and Middle East, but also in some areas of the African continent.

Analysts and the pro-Putinian opposition in Serbia, Vucicin, according to them, are identifying it in front of Serbian citizens as <x0-provocational against Russia”, and the entire “approval of Russia” is being staged by power in Belgrade due to the Russian stance that Kosovo “the issue of Kosovo” should be resolved in line with Resolution 1244, which does not recognise Kosovo's independence.

On the other hand, the Serbian Orthodox Church, which has strong ties to the Kremlin, is known to have a strong attitude against reaching any agreement with Kosovo, including earlier any discussion on the idea of restructuring borders. It is even known its position on Kosovo, referring to NATO bombings in Kosovo of “anything that has been taken by force, can be forced back”. And its severity against reaching any agreement with Kosovo, including the idea of reforming the borders, has repeatedly re-focused even most of the Serbian opposition, which, in co-ordination with the Kremlin, has recently come out with the slogan “Celo Kosovo you are Srbija”, which is ♫x4> All of Kosovo is Serbia”, as opposed to the old slogan “Kosovo is Serbia, thus alluding to the non-part of Kosovo territory.

From monitoring these reactions in Serbia as well as the official Russian positions that “any solution for Kosovo” should be found under Resolution 1244, it is clear that Russia does not agree to reach any kind of final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. Consequently, Russia from the passive sabotage that has made Kosovo's potential agreement recently passed on even more active offensives through the invasion of protests held in Serbia (raports from Serbian media), in order to cause chaos greater political to thus reduce Vuciqi's maneuvering options regarding reaching a potential agreement with mutual recognition with Kosovo, which would minimize Russian influence in the region by paving the way for Euro-Atlantic perspective of Kosovo and Serbia's integration into the EU.

Ardian Kastrati

(Autor is politicalologist and professor at the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pristina Faculty of Philosophy)