The regime in Serbia is trying to implement the policy of the "Serbian World", which is modelled on the "Russian World" project. This great Serbian agenda was one of the causes of the bloodshed and wars during the break-up of Yugoslavia.
This is stated in an analysis of the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation on the situation in Serbia, reports the correspondent of BGNES. The document stresses that "Serbia has not harmonised its policy with the EU and has not imposed sanctions on Russia."
"Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has had 17 meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2019, in Moscow, Vucic received the Order of Alexander Nevsky, which is usually awarded only to great Russian personalities. It was one of the happiest moments in Vucic's political career," the report, "Russia and the Pioneers of Autocracy: How the Kremlin Destabilized Europe," said.
Renowned journalist and university professor Thomas Bray contributed to the analysis. Serbia's pro-government media are the main carriers of Russian propaganda and in them "Russia is exalted to the heavens while the West is literally demonised". More importantly, Serbian government officials, especially those in high-ranking government positions, spread mostly pro-Russian and anti-Western narratives, the report added.
"The national airline Air Serbia continues to fly to Moscow and other Russian cities several times a week. Not far from the city of Nis, in southern Serbia, there is a Russian-Serbian humanitarian centre, which Western observers describe as a centre of Russian intelligence services," the analysis added.
"Vucic is actually spreading Russian propaganda in his interviews with Western media. Although Germany is Serbia's most important partner, it is often presented in a very negative light in the country. Whether it is Russia's Putin, Hungary's Orban, Serbia's Vucic or Slovakia's Fico, their systems of political control and retention of power are the same everywhere. First and foremost is the new nationalism fuelled by the claim that neighbouring countries, NATO, the US or the EU threaten one's own nation," the report says.
"A key tool for maintaining power is the systematic undermining of all state institutions such as parliament, government and ministries, the judiciary, local authorities and independent oversight bodies. Moreover, the labour market is politically instrumentalised. Many positions in the administration and the economy can only be obtained through the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP). It is no wonder that an incredible 10% of the entire population are members of the SPP. These members play a key role in manipulating elections, as they are obliged to collect reliable votes from their families and colleagues," the analysis says.
"Vucic, like in some reality TV show, as the omnipresent president, keeps the public in a constant state of excitement. He appears on TV screens almost every day, often speaking for hours to present important, big, unbelievable or dramatic stories to citizens. These are stories of conspiracies, organized crime, frightening scenarios of the future, spectacular foreign investors, laying the foundations or opening modern hospitals, roads, factories, railroads and power plants. Vucic completely blurs the line between the head of state and the state itself. He constantly claims that he has made this or that possible, as if he had invested his own money," the report on the situation in our western neighbour goes on to say.
"Several critical media outlets, journalists and politicians are daily targets of attack and vilification by the government media. They are constantly accused of wanting to assassinate the president, of defaming their country abroad, of being corrupt and immoral, and of being controlled by foreign intelligence. How can a weak opposition threaten the president or - as is often claimed - his family, when he can use the police, intelligence and even the army at his discretion?" the German foundation wrote. | BGNES
