While Aleksandar Vučić and Marko Djuric magnificently open the Ambassador's Conference in Serbia, Serbian diplomacy is faced with the collapse of the "all-round" strategy, which was reduced to the fact that a cuddly lamb can suckle four mothers instead of two.
Serbian diplomats started the year with the belief that they would conclude a new one long-term gas contract with Russia and a few more lucrative deals, all with the Kremlin's political and intelligence support for the progressive government, and ended with great uncertainty for the entire energy sector, which is completely dependent on Moscow's goodwill. The year 2025 began with enthusiasm because the "friend of the Serbs" Donald Trump came to the head of America again, and the American sanctions against the NIS and the highest customs tariffs in the region.
"We end the year vulnerable"
The most important for us were economic, i.e. transactional relations, and in 2025 they experienced a complete collapse, Ivan Vujačić, Serbian economist and Serbian ambassador to America from 2002 to 2009, told Vreme.
"The biggest disappointment is that this year Serbia had the biggest turn towards Russia in the last 15 years, by refusing to resolve the situation with the NIS. We did all this with the justification that it would bring us stability," Vujačić believes. "In the end, we are ending the diplomatic year threatened precisely by the Russian Federation."
American sanctions on Russian companies were announced 11 months ago, and during all that time Serbian diplomacy remained absent. According to Vujačić, there are elements in the contract for the sale of NIS, on the basis of which we were able to buy this company. Those parts of the contract have already been pointed out by experts, and they refer to the article that stipulates that Serbia has the right of first refusal when selling NIS. Vujacic believes that Serbian diplomacy decided to sacrifice him in order to get a long-term contract for gas from the Russians. However, that did not happen, because Serbia, unlike in previous years, received a guaranteed supply only until the summer of 2026.
"Thus, we have reached the biggest collapse in relations with the Russian Federation in the last decade and a half."
Recognition
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić acknowledged this situation to some extent at the Ambassador's Conference, when he said that Belgrade "does not have the support of any major power".
There have been no expected developments in relations with the USA, neither when it comes to tariffs nor sanctions to the Serbian oil industry, said Vučić and concluded:
"When it was difficult for us, we did not receive support from other major powers, neither in the East nor in the European Union. Any of them could have said - we are here with you, we are here for you. No one did that, everyone had their own reasons for additional pressure, expecting even more from Serbia, asking for a lot, but not giving anything," said Vučić.
Expectations were high from diplomacy on the other side of the globe, when Donald Trump came to power. He was sent to Washington Dragan Sutanovac, who until now has mainly expressed himself in making parties and as a DJ, while playing Svetlana Ražnatović's songs.
"Trump was announced as a friend of Aleksandar Vučić, and they received the highest tariffs in the region, as well as sanctions against NIS," said former ambassador to the USA Vujačić.
Quietly and silently gave up on the EU
Although only when Montenegro moved strongly towards the EIn, it speaks more about how much Serbia is regressing on the European path, the progressive government has done nothing to move forward in the accession process from 2021. Vujacic thinks that Serbia gave up on the EU "quietly and quietly".
"It is true that the international circumstances changed due to the war in Ukraine, but Serbia, as a small country, had to adapt to it. Now we have come to a situation where we do not know what our goal is."
In the EU accession process, there is an agenda that is being filled, explains Vujačić. In 2015, we had a rating of 3, and 10 years later that rating rose to - 3,2.
"That's how much progress we have made in the accession process. It is all stated in the reports of the European Union. We are not even making efforts in certain fields where no special effort is needed, especially not politically," concludes Vujacic.
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