Serbian president hosts high-level Russian diplomat

4 months ago 14

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Tuesday (2 July) lauded the two countries’ “bilateral relations” during a rare high-level visit to Belgrade by top Russian diplomat Alexander Grushko.

The deputy minister of foreign affairs’ two-day visit to European Union hopeful Serbia is one of the highest by a Russian diplomat since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

“We discussed the overall bilateral relations between Serbia and the Russian Federation and assessed them as very good,” Vučić posted on Instagram.

Vučić added that he “particularly thanked Russia for its support of Serbia’s territorial integrity, as well as regarding the UN Resolution on Srebrenica”.

Moscow has refused to recognise Kosovo’s independence and in May voted against the adoption of the UN’s resolution on genocide in Srebrenica, a document that has angered Serbia and Bosnian Serbs.

Serbia has been in the waiting room for European Union membership since 2012, but the Balkan country is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas. And while Belgrade condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations, it has refused to sanction the Kremlin.

Grushko also met Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, the former head of Serbia’s intelligence agency who is on the US sanctions list over his links to Russia, and Internal Affairs Minister Ivica Dačić.

They discussed “current security issues” and “the need for continuous coordination among relevant security institutions”, according to a statement from the interior ministry.

Brussels has frequently expressed concern over Belgrade’s ties with Moscow.

Just a week ago, EU foreign ministers once again called on Western Balkan partners to align with the EU’s common foreign and security policy, while the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell stated that “close ties with Vladimir Putin’s regime are not compatible with a European future”.