“Security depends on selecting partners”, Ambassador Whitaker urges Serbia to line up with the West

“Security depends on choosing the right partners”, he wrote on X on April 23rd, stressing that this message was conveyed to Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, during a meeting in Belgrade held the previous day.

Serbia, not four years after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has joined the sanctions the West has imposed on Moscow because of the war.

Also, Belgrade has not given up on political ties with representatives of power in Russia either.

Whitaker also said there has been a constructive meeting for “of a new era in relations between the US and Serbia”.

“We appreciate Serbia's role in regional stability and look forward to the joint exercise of Serbia and NATO in May”, he said.

However, I was clear: Serbia's co-operation in the field of defence and security with uncertain partners creates long-term strategic dependence, from which it is difficult to break, and complicates future co-operation”, Whitaker added.

Earlier, Vuciq has said that with the US ambassador to NATO, he has discussed security issues and regional policy and reports between Belgrade and Washington.

American intelligence agencies have warned in their annual report that the Western Balkans remain an area of increased political tensions and external influence, pointing separately to Russia's role in destabilizing the region.

The war in Ukraine has deepened the divisions between the West and Moscow on March 18th, which is reflected in the Balkans.

According to the report, Russia “fosters instability between Serbia, which favours it, and Kosovo”, as well as “supports the srpska entity break from Bosnia and Herzegovina”. / REL