Putin nevertheless received Vučić. If the latter is to be believed, Serbia will have as much oil and gas as our hearts desire. And a cheap one. I am afraid, however, of the folk saying "He who does not pay on the bridge, pays on the bridge". And if the situation could be even worse, this behavior of Vučić could "burn" all bridges and bridges towards the EU. And then there is neither the opening of clusters, nor the first 110 million non-returnable euros from the Growth Plan, nor European investments
When I sat down to write an article for "Vreme" about the current state and perspective of relations between Serbia and the European Union, I could not even imagine what was waiting for me. I don't remember in my not-so-short career as a journalist being present, and as I write this text I am still present, such a dynamic sequence of foreign-political events that, I am sure, will permanently determine the future position of Serbia on the international stage. More precisely - in Europe. I will try to "draw the line" and see where Serbia is in relation to the EU on Tuesday morning.
The last three weeks have been, I would say, nightmarish for Aleksandar Vučić and his view and management of Serbia's foreign policy. Why? A little reminder of the facts.
FIRST ACT
After 13 days of riding and covering more than 1400 kilometers, eighty student-cyclists in Strasbourg submitted letters to the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. In the Council of Europe, the broadest European organizations of 47 countries, including Serbia, spoke with the deputy secretary general of the organization, Bjorn Berge, and the director for democratic participation of the Council of Europe, Matthias Gruden.
They also met three members of the European Parliament - Irena Joveva from Slovenia, Gordan Bosanac from Croatia and Fabien Keller from France. Students and Euro officials did not hide their satisfaction with the atmosphere and content of the talks.
For Vučić, the "lost", "foreign mercenaries", "traitors" experienced a fiasco, they didn't see anyone important, they were supported, of course, by the hated enemies Croats and Slovenians, he didn't mention the French woman I guess so as not to anger Emmanuel Macron, and those institutions in Strasbourg, according to him, are not overly important.
SECOND ACT
For days, students blocked Radio and Television of Serbia with only one request, which is to cancel the existing competition for members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) and announce a new one. The government repeated the mantra that "the streets will not lead politics", but when the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Marta Kos came to Belgrade, she stated that she was following what was happening in front of the RTS, and that one of the conditions for the continuation of Serbia's negotiations on joining the EU was freedom of the media and, within that, the election of a new REM.
That is why the government (completely sovereign - of course) decided to quickly schedule a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information and to fulfill the students' request, all while claiming that the meeting of the Committee is part of regular activities. This ended the blockade of RTS. Ugh, Marta can come, Serbia respects and fulfills its obligations. Admittedly, only this one, but even that is something.
However, the former Yugoslavian swimming representative was no longer ready to repeat her assessment from a few weeks ago that the talks with Vučić were "constructive". On the contrary, her message is clear - the demands of the students are essentially the same as what the EU demands from Serbia. She also went to Novi Sad, laid flowers at the site of the tragedy, spoke in Novi Sad and Belgrade with representatives of civil society, sent clear messages to the authorities about society as a whole - work with us on judicial reforms, freedom of the media, fight against corruption, improvement of the electoral system...
The leaders of Serbia - the new Prime Minister Macut and the old Speaker of the Parliament Ana Brnabić - swore and gave an "honorable pioneering word" that Serbia is ready to speed up reforms and work on European integration. Vučić spoke mostly to Marti Kos about the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans (read: six billion euros, which, according to the EU, should serve, among other things, the accelerated economic development of the candidate countries, of which Serbia should receive one and a half billion). And once again he said that Serbia wants reforms, but "not because of bureaucratic demands (Brussels - author's note), but because we believe that they bring a better life to our citizens," Vučić said on Instagram. That is why the conversation with Marta Kos was "good" for him, and as he claims, "special focus" was on the Growth Plan.
An uninformed person might think that Commissioner Kos and Vucic were in two different meetings. Because Marta Kos said at the public dialogue on the Growth Plan on May 12: "I am not satisfied with what I see in Serbia... The new Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly promised me that reforms would be implemented quickly, but the President of Serbia promised the same thing to the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council at the end of March, so nothing happened."
She added that during her last stay in Belgrade, she told Vučić that "even though the entire government and he himself explain that they stand for reforms, they have not fulfilled anything since December".
GROWTH PLAN
Perhaps here lies the answer to the question in the title. Especially since Marta Kos added that it is very difficult for her as the EU enlargement commissioner to speak in favor of Serbia if Vučić goes to Moscow. And he left.
And the money from the Growth Plan?
"As far as Serbia and the funds from the Growth Plan are concerned, we are now evaluating whether we should pay it or not," said the commissioner in front of the members of the two committees of the European Parliament - for foreign affairs and for the budget.
I could still arrange the "acts" of this "piece with dancing and singing", where mostly the students dance and sing, but - as the marathoners did - they also convey new, fresh and important messages to Europe, the most important of which is - that Serbia has a place in Europe. This is clearly confirmed in Brussels on Schuman Square, where the "heart" of the EU is. At the student's reception, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Slovak Martin Hojsik, said: "It is very inspiring that you are in Brussels, the heart of European democracy...You students are the true future of Serbia, not Vucic. The fact that you are here and did not walk towards Moscow is a sign that you understood the message".
When you read this text, there will be a lot of political activity behind the students: the Committee for Law Husk will hold a debate on the "situation of human rights in Serbia in the context of student protests" where students are expected to speak, they will be received by Marta Kos together with the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Intergenerational Dialogue Glenn Micallef. Students will talk with representatives of political groups in Parliament, as well as with members of the Foreign Policy Committee and the chairman of that Committee, the influential David McAllister.
WHERE THE SEE-SHAWK PREVAILS
When it comes to political groups in the Parliament, the European People's Party (EPP), the largest and most influential group in the European Parliament, in which Vučić's SNS has the status of an associate member and which was - I repeat was - one of the main pillars of his policy of "matchmaking" in relation to the European Union, and whose member is Ursula von der Leyen, seems to be slowly changing its course and turning from unwavering support to Vučić to a slightly more nuanced attitude towards his foreign policy "seesaws".
The representative of that group, Riho Teras, launched an initiative to sign a petition asking the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, to cancel the announced visit to Belgrade due to Vučić's presence at the parade in Moscow. Teras assesses that visit as "very problematic" because "the army parading in Moscow is the same army that continues to commit war crimes and kill Ukrainians every day for more than three years." Teras therefore concludes that visits like Vučić's "in the world of diplomacy are far from a mere formality. They are acts of support. Therefore, the presence of President Vučić represents the approval of war crimes committed by Putin and the Russian army." He also said that such behavior of Vučić is "despicable" and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Kosta's visit to Serbia would have exactly the opposite effect "because it would be a demonstration of support for President Vučić".
The fact is that something is changing in the relationship between SNS and Vučić, the most faithful partner in Europe. If I am right, MP Teras's move is, at the very least, a sign of a slight turn in the attitude of the EPP group towards the politics of Aleksandar Vučić.
When it is added that the "irrelevant" European Parliament, as Vučić qualified it after the arrival of the cyclists in Strasbourg, adopted the report of Tonin Picula (again, a "Serb-hater" Croat) with an overwhelming majority and translated it into a Resolution that very strongly points out all the mentioned problems, and clearly and unequivocally assessed that Serbia is an autocratic society but also that there is a courageous resistance to the regime, one gets a true picture of what and how the European Parliament, its members and the growing number of influential Brussels bureaucrats' thoughts on the current situation in Serbia, Vučić and the European future of our country.
BRIDGES AND CURTAINS
Antonio Costa came to Belgrade, Vučić once again repeated the mantra that Serbia is firmly committed to joining the EU and will implement the necessary reforms. Is this the beginning of a new or a continuation of the old game of "matchmaking"?
I could arrange several more "acts" with Vučić in the "main role". Just one more thing... Older readers will remember the story we read in elementary school Pinky saw Tito.. Well, today's "Pinky" (this has nothing to do with the TV show of the same name) in the episode "Miami" did not see Trump. An episode of diplomatic confusion and shame which, it seems, cost the taxpayers of Serbia quite a bit... It's possible, it can be done. And the ceilings in schools are falling, kindergarten teachers are not getting paid, educators are on strike...
And now Russia. What to say? After an 11-hour flight, Vučić, whom the American doctors could not help, and who miraculously recovered after a few hours at the VMA and a day or two of home recovery, first met with the Russian ambassador, and then headed to Moscow to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Serbia has a reason and should celebrate such dates, as should all other republics and provinces of the former common country, which grew out of the partisan People's Liberation Struggle and (why not say) the revolution. So it is not disputed. The society in which you celebrate is controversial. While European foreign ministers and the leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany and Poland are celebrating Europe Day in Kiev and making plans for all possible help to Ukraine, Vučić attends a large military parade on Red Square and meets with the Chinese and then the Russian president.
Without going into the details of who sits where on the podium and similar "irrelevant" protocol details, I can only repeat what much more important people than journalists said - despite the war flags of the Red Army, the fact that the Soviet Union (that is, not Russia itself) made the biggest sacrifices in the fight against fascism, it was the army parade that attacked a sovereign state and which simultaneously paraded on Red Square and bombed targets in Ukraine.
When I mention Ukraine, I have to mention two more facts. The units of the Red Army that liberated Serbia together with the partisans were units of the southern Ukrainian front, composed mainly of Ukrainians! Just enough to know. And something else. In the 18th century, two Serbian states briefly existed on the territory of today's Ukraine: New Serbia and Slavic Serbia. If my historical memory is correct, Karađorđe's envoys waited for days for the Russian emperor to receive them. In the end, he did not receive them.
Putin nevertheless received Vučić. If the latter is to be believed, Serbia will have as much oil and gas as our hearts desire. And a cheap one at that. I am afraid, however, of the folk saying "He who does not pay on the bridge, pays on the bridge". And if the situation could be even worse, this behavior of Vučić could "burn" all bridges and bridges towards the EU. And then there is neither the opening of clusters, nor the first 110 million non-returnable euros from the Growth Plan, nor European investments...
And Trump is far away and took what interested him as family. "Brother Si" remains, who can continue to devastate Eastern Serbia and make big profits for little money... However, let's be optimistic. Fortunately, there are students.
The author is the president of the European Movement in Serbia
Zorica Slavković Marjanović, one of the suspects in the canopies case, has had her custody terminated and a measure prohibiting her from leaving the apartment with electronic surveillance
The beginning of the third day of the extraordinary session of the Assembly was marked by the discussion on the Law on Alimony Fund, and mutual accusations were made. There was also talk of a tent settlement in Pionirski Park, better known as Ćaciland
In the third address to the public, the President sat on the terrace, which he likes the most, because he is above the people, and on the terrace, it was as if he had won a gold medal at the Olympics.
Vučić's regime is really heading towards its inevitable end. The damage he has done in almost all spheres of society is great and difficult to repair. And it will be greater the more the final departure is delayed and prolonged. Exactly what that end will be like and what it will look like, no one can predict with certainty. But it can be said with a lot of certainty that, if this "our" opposition party, i.e. the anti-regime side managed to get rid of some of its pains, that departure must have been faster and more certain. What kind of ailments are we talking about?
Patriotism is clearly recognized in the readiness to fight and give our lives for the freedom of our homeland and not allow a change of borders, laws, human rights, freedom, language and values to be imposed on us. It sounds nice, but it's not that simple
Vučić is not defending the state, but himself from the state. With a drum on his back and a guitar in his hands, this man-orchestra performs two or three of the same songs without hearing, with falsifications and falling out of rhythm. His government and politics are like that. In short - dangerous for the environment
Arrests of professors, punishment of people, firing of journalists... The regime of Aleksandar Vučić is shining and is yet to shine. It is the decadent phase of the regime, the one towards the end
The example of the elections in Zaječar and Kosjerić shows that the truth is not given, but assumed. Truth is a task that a citizen fulfills. She always wins
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