rferl.org

Montenegrin PM Signs Basic Agreement With Serbian Orthodox Church

RFE/RL's Balkan Service

74-94 minutes

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The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije (left), and Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic meet in June.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic has signed a basic agreement on relations between the government in Podgorica and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Abazovic signed the agreement, which covers sensitive relations between the government and the church, after more than four hours of discussions on July 8. Thirteen ministers voted for the adoption of the agreement, five voted against, and three were absent.

Abazovic negotiated the agreement with Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije. A draft of the agreement was published last week after which the patriarch said the new agreement would mark a "crowning" of the normalization of relations between Montenegro and his church.

Some protests broke out in Podgorica after Abazovic's announcement alongside the Serbian patriarch.

Deputy Prime Minister Rasko Konjevic said on July 8 that, with the adoption of the basic agreement, Abazovic would lose the parliamentary majority that has supported his government so far.

"The contract is not in accordance with the constitution, and the preamble is not in accordance with historical facts," Konjevic said. "I am informing you that the government has lost its legitimacy, and after consultations a request will be submitted to shorten the mandate of the assembly -- that is, to hold extraordinary elections."

He asserted that the text was not properly adopted because 13 votes was not a two-thirds majority of the 21 ministers.

Abazovic disputed Konjevic's statement but said a new vote could be held because three ministers were absent when the vote took place.

The Serbian Orthodox Church has considerable influence in Montenegro and within the ruling coalition. A majority of Montenegrins worship under the auspices of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which has an arm based in Cetinje called the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral.

The basic agreement outlines the obligations of the state and institutions toward the church.

It recognizes Serbian Orthodox subjectivity six centuries further back than the church is afforded in Serbia itself, extends extraterritoriality of religious buildings, opens the possibility of religious teaching in public schools, and gives the church legal status that in some areas is equal to state institutions.

Critics have complained about the criteria it sets for settling registration disputes over property. The church controls hundreds of properties throughout Montenegro.

Montenegro's largest ruling party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), and the Social Democrats (SDP) criticized a draft of the basic agreement published on June 28 as overly generous toward the Serbian church.

The basic agreement must now be sent to the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, which must also accept it.

With reporting by Jasna Vukicevic

b92.net

"Danger for the whole of Europe. If Pandora's box opens, it won't be good for anyone"

6-7 minutes

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Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia's Chief, Sergey Naryshkin, assessed that Polish plans to establish control over western Ukraine are dangerous for Europe.

Source: B92 Friday, July 8, 2022 | 17:05

EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY

As he said, that would open Pandora's box and then it would not be good for anyone.

"It's definitely dangerous. It's dangerous for Ukraine, it's dangerous for all of Europe. The thing is that on the European continent there are quite a few points where neighbors are silently claiming the territory of neighboring countries," Naryshkin told reporters after a meeting with the leadership of the KGB of Belarus.

As reported by Sputnik, according to his words, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia is carefully monitoring what is happening.

"If Poland opens that Pandora's box, it will not be good for anyone. It is an essential way to make the situation on the European continent even more difficult and, of course, to reduce the level of international security," said Naryshkin.

He warned last week that the Polish leadership is analyzing scenarios for the de facto partition of Ukraine and that the Polish authorities are convinced that the U.S. and Great Britain will be forced to support the plan for the partition of Ukraine.

Naryshkin previously spoke about Poland's attempt to repeat the historic "agreement" after the end of the First World War, when the collective West, embodied in the Entente powers, recognized Warsaw's right to first occupy part of Ukraine to protect the population from the "Bolshevik danger" and then to include those territories in the composition of the Polish state.

Naryshkin also assessed that, after the summit that NATO recently held in Madrid, it became clear that NATO is waging a hybrid war against Russia and Belarus.

"During the NATO summit in Madrid, which was held recently, it can be said that the masks fell off. It is obvious to us that the NATO bloc is waging a hybrid war against both Russia and our ally - Belarus," said Naryshkin.

 

rt.com

West wants to 'absolve' itself from its own crimes – Serbia

RT

4-5 minutes

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By pressuring Belgrade to sanction Moscow, Western states are seeking to whitewash their own sins, the interior minister says

It is not in Serbia's interests to reduce cooperation with Russia and to "absolve" the West of its crimes, the interior minister says

Serbia says it is not interested in diminishing its "closeness and cooperation" with Moscow, adding that by trying to force Belgrade to impose sanctions on Russia, the West simply seeks to "absolve" itself from its own crimes.

In an interview with the newspaper Novosti published on Sunday, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that throughout history, Serbs have always been "expected to do something for others" and to neglect their own interests.

"It is not in Serbia's interest to participate in the conflicts of the greats, and it is not in Serbia's interest to diminish the closeness and cooperation with Russia and its leadership," the minister said.

He claimed that when Western countries ask Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia, they know it would not mean much for Russia from an economic perspective, but would serve as a significant moral blow.

"Those who bombed us know that the moral greatness of Serbia is disproportionate to its firepower, and that is why they need that little tormented Serbia, that brave victim, to be with them," he said.

In his opinion, the US and its allies "have everything but morals" and so they want Serbia "to absolve them of the crimes they have committed and to absolve them of the sins of violating international law."

"Unlike Western admirers of the right to vote and democracy, despotic Russia and China have never asked us to impose sanctions on the EU or US and accept their choice as our own," Vulin said, adding that any "anti-Russian hysteria is always anti-Serbian."

The minister also noted that his country does not want Russia to be defeated in Ukraine.

"The defeat of Russia would be felt with all its might in all positions of Serbia, as it always has been," he said.

Vulin hailed Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for "showing strength that exceeds the position of the president of a small country" in opposing the sanctions on Russia.

"Vucic is not a little Russian, he is a great Serb," he added.

The US, EU, UK, and many other countries view Russia's military operation in Ukraine as an act of unprovoked aggression and responded by imposing sweeping sanctions on Moscow.

On Friday, at a press conference with the Serbian president, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Serbia must follow the EU's lead in sanctioning Russia, and recognize the breakaway province of Kosovo as an independent state if it hopes to join the bloc someday.

Vucic reiterated that sanctioning Russia would be difficult for Belgrade. Earlier this week, he told Serbian TV that the EU's oil embargo has already cost $600 million in higher prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the sanctions have backfired on the West, citing the inflation and shortages that the US and EU governments are now trying to blame on Moscow. The following day, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the sanctions have indeed made a "huge difference to food and energy prices" amid record-setting inflation.

 

https://www.theguardian/ Russia is winning the economic war - and Putin is no closer to withdrawing troops

theguardian.com

Russia is winning the economic war - and Putin is no closer to withdrawing troops | Larry Elliott

Larry Elliott

6-7 minutes

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It is now three months since the west launched its economic war against Russia, and it is not going according to plan. On the contrary, things are going very badly indeed.

Sanctions were imposed on Vladimir Putin not because they were considered the best option, but because they were better than the other two available courses of action: doing nothing or getting involved militarily.

The first set of economic measures were introduced immediately after the invasion, when it was assumed Ukraine would capitulate within days. That didn't happen, with the result that sanctions – while still incomplete – have gradually been intensified.

There is, though, no immediate sign of Russia pulling out of Ukraine and that's hardly surprising, because the sanctions have had the perverse effect of driving up the cost of Russia's oil and gas exports, massively boosting its trade balance and financing its war effort. In the first four months of 2022, Putin could boast a current account surplus of $96bn (£76bn) – more than treble the figure for the same period of 2021.

When the EU announced its partial ban on Russian oil exports earlier this week, the cost of crude oil on the global markets rose, providing the Kremlin with another financial windfall. Russia is finding no difficulty finding alternative markets for its energy, with exports of oil and gas to China in April up more than 50% year on year.

That's not to say the sanctions are pain-free for Russia. The International Monetary Fund estimates the economy will shrink by 8.5% this year as imports from the west collapse. Russia has stockpiles of goods essential to keep its economy going, but over time they will be used up.

But Europe is only gradually weaning itself off its dependency on Russian energy, and so an immediate financial crisis for Putin has been averted. The rouble – courtesy of capital controls and a healthy trade surplus – is strong. The Kremlin has time to find alternative sources of spare parts and components from countries willing to circumvent western sanctions.

When the global movers and shakers met in Davos last week, the public message was condemnation of Russian aggression and renewed commitment to stand solidly behind Ukraine. But privately, there was concern about the economic costs of a prolonged war.

These concerns are entirely justified. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has given an added boost to already strong price pressures. The UK's annual inflation rate stands at 9% – its highest in 40 years – petrol prices have hit a record high and the energy price cap is expected to increase by £700-800 a year in October. Rishi Sunak's latest support package to cope with the cost-of-living crisis was the third from the chancellor in four months – and there will be more to come later in the year.

As a result of the war, western economies face a period of slow or negative growth and rising inflation – a return to the stagflation of the 1970s. Central banks – including the Bank of England – feel they have to respond to near double-digit inflation by raising interest rates. Unemployment is set to rise. Other European countries face the same problems, if not more so, since most of them are more dependent on Russian gas than is the UK.

The problems facing the world's poorer countries are of a different order of magnitude. For some of them the issue is not stagflation, but starvation, as a result of wheat supplies from Ukraine's Black Sea ports being blocked.

As David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programme put it: "Right now, Ukraine's grain silos are full. At the same time, 44 million people around the world are marching towards starvation."

In every multilateral organisation – the IMF, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations – fears are growing of a humanitarian catastrophe. The position is simple: unless developing nations are energy exporters themselves, they face a triple whammy in which fuel and food crises trigger financial crises. Faced with the choice of feeding their populations or paying their international creditors, governments will opt for the former. Sri Lanka was the first country since the Russian invasion to default on its debts, but is unlikely to be the last. The world appears closer to a full-blown debt crisis than at any time since the 1990s.

Putin has rightly been condemned for "weaponising" food, but his willingness to do so should come as no surprise. From the start, the Russian president has been playing a long game, waiting for the international coalition against him to fragment. The Kremlin thinks Russia's threshold for economic pain is higher than the west's, and it is probably right about that.

If proof were needed that sanctions are not working, then President Joe Biden's decision to supply Ukraine with advanced rocket systems provides it. The hope is that modern military technology from the US will achieve what energy bans and the seizure of Russian assets have so far failed to do: force Putin to withdraw his troops.

Complete defeat for Putin on the battlefield is one way the war could end, although as things stand that doesn't appear all that likely. There are other possible outcomes. One is that the economic blockade eventually works, with ever-tougher sanctions forcing Russia to back down. Another is a negotiated settlement.

Putin is not going to surrender unconditionally, and the potential for severe collateral damage from the economic war is obvious: falling living standards in developed countries; famine, food riots and a debt crisis in the developing world.

The atrocities committed by Russian troops mean compromising with the Kremlin is currently hard to swallow, but economic reality suggests only one thing: sooner or later a deal will be struck.

• Larry Elliott is the Guardian's economics editor

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com

 

The Dystopian WHO Stealth Coup

 

Hello Dear Readers, The World Health Organization, today a "public-private partnership" in which Big Pharma and the Bill Gates Foundation are major shareholders, is in the midst of a brazen power grab with full support of the USA Biden Administration. If approved as it seems likely, national health officials will no longer have control over national or local health conditions. Power will go to the head of WHO to mandate measures such as lockdowns or even digital vaccination or health IDs that could be used to deny travel or even work if holders refuse WHO mandated vaccines or other measures. If this sounds dystopian, it is. I share with you the details here. If you have not yet done so, please consider a donation of support for my online voice. The relentless censorship of the Internet and social media by the private corporate social media companies since the 2020 Corona virus, and now the war in Ukraine, is alarming and damaging and can only be compared with book burnings in the Germany of the 1930s, or the Medieval Inquisitions of the Catholic Church with book burnings and torture of heretics.   I thank you for your interest and support, William Engdahl www.williamengdahl.com     --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------           WHO Stealth Coup to Dictate Global Health Agenda of Gates, Big Pharma By F. William Engdahl                                                                                                           16 May, 2022   Acting on an initiative from the Biden Administration, by November 2022, conveniently at the onset of the next flu season in the northern hemisphere, the World Health Organization, barring a miracle, will impose an unprecedented top-down control over the national health regulations and measures of the entire planet. In what amounts to a stealth coup d'etat, WHO will get draconian new powers to override national sovereignty in 194 UN member countries, and to dictate their health measures with force of international law. It is sometimes referred to as the WHO Pandemic Treaty but it is far more. Worse, most of the WHO budget comes from private vaccine-tied foundations like the Gates Foundation or from Big Pharma, a massive conflict of interest.     Draconian New WHO Powers Doing something with stealth means doing it in a secretive or concealed manner, to prevent it being widely known and possibly opposed. This applies to the proposal given by the Biden Administration to the Geneva WHO in January 18, 2022 according to official WHO documents. The WHO hid the details of the US "amendments" for almost three months, until 12 April, just a month before the relevant body of the WHO meets to approve the radical measures. Moreover, rather than the previous 18 month waiting time to become treaty in international law, only 6 months are used this time. This is a bum's rush. The US proposal is backed by every EU country and in total 47 countries ensuring almost certain passage. The proposals, officially titled, "Strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies: Proposal for amendments to the International Health Regulations," were submitted by Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs (OGA) in the US Department of Health and Human Services, Loyce Pace, as "amendments" to a previously ratified 2005 WHO International Health Regulations treaty. [i] The WHO defines that 2005 treaty thus: "the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) provide an overarching legal framework that defines countries' rights and obligations in handling public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders. The IHR are an instrument of international law that is legally-binding on 196 countries, including the 194 WHO Member States." (emphasis added). Ms Pace came to the Biden Administration from heading the Global Health Council, whose members include the most corrupt names in Big Pharma including Pfizer, Lilly, Merck, J&J, Abbott, Bill Gates-funded AVAC, to name a few. Her proposals for the radical transformation of WHO "pandemic" and epidemic powers, could easily have been written by Gates and Big Pharma. Before we look at what the Loyce Pace "amendments" will do to empower the transformation of WHO into a global health dictatorship with unprecedented powers to overrule judgments of any national governments, one stealthy legal issue must be noted. By disguising a complete change in the 2005 WHO treaty powers as mere "amendments" to a ratified treaty, WHO claims, along with the Biden Administration, that the approval of the amendments requires no new ratification debate by member governments. This is stealth. With no national debate by elected representatives, the unelected WHO will become a global superpower over life and death in the future. Washington and WHO have deliberately restricted the process of public participation to ram this through.   A De Facto New Law As required, the WHO finally published the US "amendments." It shows the deletions and as well the new additions. [ii] What the Biden Administration changes do is to transform a previously advisory role for the WHO to national governments on not only pandemic responses but also everything tied to national "health," with an entirely new power to override national health agencies if the WHO Director General, now Tedros Adhanom, determines. The US Biden Administration and WHO have colluded to create an entirely new treaty which will shift all health decisions from a national or local level to Geneva, Switzerland and WHO. Typical of the Washington amendments to the existing WHO Treaty is Article 9. The US change is to insert WHO "shall" and delete "may": "If the State Party does not accept the offer of collaboration within 48 hours, WHO shall may…,. In the same article now deleted is "offer of collaboration by WHO, taking into account the views of the State Party concerned…" The views or judgment of say, Germany or India, or USA health authorities become irrelevant. WHO will be able to override national experts and dictate as international law its mandates for any and all future pandemics as well as even epidemics or even local health issues. [iii] Moreover, in the new proposed Article 12 on "Determination of a public health emergency of international concern, public health emergency of regional concern, or intermediate health alert," WHO head--now Tedros in his new 5-year term--alone can decide to declare an emergency, even without agreement of the member state.  The WHO head will then consult his relevant WHO "Emergency Committee" on Polio, Ebola, Bird Flu, Covid or whatever they declare to be a problem.  [iv] In short this is a global dictatorship over citizen health by one of the most corrupt health bodies in the world. The members of a given WHO Emergency Committee are chosen under opaque procedures and typically, as in the current one on polio, many members are tied to the various Gates Foundation fronts like GAVI or CEPI. Yet the selection process is entirely opaque and internal to WHO. Among other powers the new Pandemic Treaty will give Tedros and WHO the power to mandate vaccine passports and COVID jabs worldwide. They are working on the creation of a global vaccine passport/digital identity program.  Under the new "Pandemic Treaty", when people are harmed by the WHO's health policies, there's no accountability. The WHO has diplomatic immunity. [v] Former WHO senior employee and whistleblower, Astrid Stuckelberger, now a scientist at the Institute of Global Health of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, noted, "if the new Pandemic Treaty is adopted by member states, "this means that the WHO's Constitution (as per Article 9) will take precedence over each country's constitution during natural disasters or pandemics. In other words, the WHO will be dictating to other countries, no longer making recommendations." [vi]   Who is WHO? The Director General of WHO would have the ultimate power under the new rules, to determine for example if say, Brazil or Germany or USA must impose a Shanghai-style pandemic lockdown or any other measures it decides. This is not good. Especially when the head of WHO, Tedros, from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, is a former member of the Politburo of the designated terrorist (then by Washington) Marxist organization, the Tigray People's Liberation Front. He holds no medical degree, the first in WHO director-general history without such. He has a PhD in Community Health, definitely a vague field, hardly medical qualification for a global health czar. Among his published scientific papers are titles such as "The effects of dams on malaria transmission in Tigray Region." He reportedly got his WHO job in 2017 via backing from Bill Gates, the largest private donor to WHO. As Ethiopia Minister of Health in the Tigray-led dictatorship, Tedros was involved in a scandalous coverup of three major cholera outbreaks in the country in 2006, 2009 and 2011. An investigative report published by the Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health found that during one major cholera outbreak, "Despite laboratory identification of V cholerae as the cause of the acute watery diarrhea (AWD), the Government of Ethiopia (Tedros) decided not to declare a "cholera outbreak" for fear of economic repercussions resulting from trade embargos and decreased tourism. Further, the government, in disregard of International Health Regulations (WHO), continually refused to declare a cholera epidemic and largely declined international assistance." [vii] As Ethiopian Health and later Foreign Minister Tedros was accused of systematic ethnic cleansing against rival tribes in the country, especially Amharas, denying opposition supporters World Bank and other food aid, as well as nepotism, diversion of international funds for hospital construction into political support for his minority party. [viii] Ironically this is the opposite of the new WHO law Tedros backs today. On 22 September 2021 Merkel's Germany proposed Tedros for a further term without opposition.   WHO, Gates, GERM  A hint of what's in store under the new rules was given by WHO's largest donor (including his GAVI), the self-appointed "Globalist Everything Czar", Bill Gates. On his April 22 blog entry, Gates proposes something amusingly with the acronym GERM -- Global Epidemic Response and Mobilization—team. It would have a "permanent organization of experts who are fully paid and prepared to mount a coordinated response to a dangerous outbreak at any time." He says his model is the Hollywood movie, Outbreak. "The team's disease monitoring experts would look for potential outbreaks. Once it spots one, GERM should have the ability to declare an outbreak…" It would be coordinated by, of course, Tedros' WHO: "The work would be coordinated by the WHO, the only group that can give it global credibility." [ix] A dystopian notion of what could take place is the ongoing fake "Avian Flu" epidemic, H5N1, that is causing tens of millions of chickens to be terminated worldwide if even one chick tests positive for the disease. The test is the same fraudulent PCR test used to detect covid19. Recently, Dr Robert Redfield, Trump's head of CDC, gave an interview where he "predicted" that Bird Flu will jump to humans and be highly fatal in the coming "Great Pandemic," for which Covid19 was a mere warm-up. Redfield declared in a March 2022 interview, "I think we have to recognize – I've always said that I think the Covid pandemic was a wakeup call. I don't believe it's the great pandemic. I believe the great pandemic is still in the future, and that's going to be a bird flu pandemic for man. It's gonna have significant mortality in the 10-50% range. It's gonna be trouble."[x] Under the new WHO dictatorial powers, WHO could declare a health emergency on such a fraud regardless of contrary evidence.          Endnotes: [i] WHO, Strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies: Proposal for amendments to the International Health Regulations, 12 April, 2022, SEVENTY FIFTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY A75/18 Provisional agenda item 16.2, https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA75/A75_18-en.pdf#page=4 .   [ii] Ibid.   [iii] Ibid.   [iv] Ibid.   [v] The Exposé, The W.H.O's proposed 'Pandemic Treaty' is a huge threat to the Freedom of ordinary, hardworking people, April 26, 2022, https://expose-news.com/2022/04/26/who-pandemic-treaty-threat-to-your-freedom/   [vi] Katja Hamilton, WHO Pandemic Treaty The makings of a New World Order? 8 March 2022, https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/148/225648.html   [vii] OPride Staff,  The case against WHO director general candidate Tedros Adhanom, May 11, 2017, https://www.opride.com/2017/05/11/case-director-general-candidate-tedros-adhanom/   [viii] Ibid.   [ix] Bill Gates, Meet the GERM team, April 30, 2022, https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Meet-the-GERM-team   [x] Gary D. Barnett, The Next 'Great Pandemic:' Astronomical Death Counts Now Being Telegraphed and Marketed to the Public,  April 14, 2022, https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/04/gary-d-barnett/the-next-great-pandemic-astronomical-death-counts-now-being-telegraphed-and-marketed-to-the-public/

 

Strasse der Republik 17 Wiesbaden Hessen 65203 GERMANY

May 24, 2022

Serbia Resists US-led Bullying

by Gregory Elich

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National Assembly of Serbia. Photograph Source: Boris Dimitrov – CC BY-SA 3.0

Little more than half a year has passed since Belgrade hosted the Non-Aligned Summit on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the movement's founding, and Serbia is increasingly under fire for upholding the organization's principles.

Russia's ill-considered invasion of Ukraine has provided US imperialism with the opportunity of a lifetime, supercharging NATO and US military expansion and transforming the conflict into a proxy war. By sending arms to Ukraine and urging it on to total victory rather than a negotiated settlement, the hope in Washington is that the war can be prolonged. The expectation is that sanctions would then have enough time to bring about the collapse of Russia, which would advance the project of isolating the People's Republic of China.

Washington is in no mood to countenance neutrality, and no effort is spared to persuade or bully other nations into imposing sanctions on Russia. While the US has met with limited success in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Europe is a different matter, where only one nation maintains a neutral stance – Serbia.

Serbia voted in favor of the UN resolution deploring the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling for the unconditional withdrawal of forces. It also supported the UN resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the war and is donating €3 million to aid Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons. [1]

Serbia planned, however, to abstain in the vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. Before the vote was scheduled, Western officials met with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković, warning him that Serbia faced punishment unless it joined the West in expelling Russia. Russia's Gazprom is a majority shareholder in the Petroleum Industry of Serbia. That relationship provided the EU with a decisive leverage point to get its way. Serbia is wholly dependent on Russia for its oil supply, and the earliest possible avenue for diversification is two years away if a planned pipeline from Bulgaria meets its target date. [2] It was pointed out that the EU would be meeting on the day of the UN vote to decide whether or not to allow Serbia to import Russian oil, which has to pass through EU territory. Selaković was told that unless Serbia voted against Russia, it risked a complete cutoff of its supply of crude oil. Furthermore, he was cautioned that Serbia's path to joining the EU would be blocked, and Western investments would be withdrawn. The EU's vote on Serbia's oil supply was initially scheduled for 4:00 PM on the day of the UN vote but was delayed by two hours to see how Serbia voted before the EU would make its decision. Russia made calls to Serbia, too, although no threats were made. [3] After Serbia switched its vote to comply with the EU's position, the EU granted it an exemption to import Russian oil. [4]

However, Serbia is drawing a firm line in its refusal to sanction Russia. Economic sanctions are a form of siege warfare in which collective punishment is visited upon an entire population. For Serbia to impose sanctions is to join someone else's war, an action incompatible with its non-aligned status. Serbia knows well the harm done by sanctions, based on the economic ruin it experienced when it was the target of sanctions during the 1990s. It is easy for those in the West to dismiss or ignore the reality of sanctions. No one who has lived through sanctions can do the same. As one Serbian political analyst noted, "Sanctions are an instrument of war; they are often more devastating than bombs, and Serbia is not at war with Russia." [5]

Coercive economic sanctions unilaterally imposed by states can be regarded as contravening international law in their impact on the human rights of targeted populations, including denial of food, medical care, employment, and even life itself. Sanctions are, of course, the first tool of choice for Western nations.

"People talk about choosing sides. No, we have our own side, Serbia's side," Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić asserts. "We were bombed by 19 NATO countries and sanctioned. We haven't imposed sanctions against anyone…because we don't believe sanctions change anything. You can pressure and force Serbia, but that is our genuine opinion." [6]

Aleksandar Vučić had a more personal experience with Western respect for international law when he was targeted for assassination in 1999. One night after the United States dropped three laser-guided bombs onto the home of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević in a failed attempt to murder him and his wife, [7] it next tried to kill Vučić, who was information minister at the time. Vučić received a fax from CNN inviting him to a live broadcast interview. CNN asked him to arrive for makeup at Radio Television Serbia in Belgrade at 2:00 AM sharp for a program scheduled for half an hour later. At 2:06 AM, NATO missiles pulverized the building, killing 16 people. The first missile struck the makeup room, where NATO expected Vučić to be. Luckily for Vučić, he was running behind schedule and arrived after the attack. [8]

Washington was again disappointed in its hope to see Vučić removed from the scene when he trounced his conservative opponent in this year's presidential election. That leaves US and EU officials with only their arsenal of bullying tactics. Every day, Western diplomats contact Serbian officials, relentlessly pushing their demands. According to an unnamed Serbian source, "Serbia is threatened with diplomatic channels by withdrawing all investments from Serbia, even sanctions in the banking sector, and some European countries go so far as to mention removing Serbia from the Schengen list," [9] which allows citizens visa-free entry to EU nations.

Western officials dispense with diplomatic niceties when delivering their threats. "You cannot understand the scale of the rudeness of those who threaten this country," Vučić observed, "and the bottom line is that they want to break Serbia's freedom spirit and ability to make decisions on its own." [10]

Last month, in talks characterized as "difficult," a delegation of US senators visited Belgrade in a failed attempt to persuade Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia. The senators also complained about Serbia's purchase of a Chinese FK-3 surface-to-air defense system.[11] If the US expected this high-powered delegation to bend Serbia to its will, it was sorely disappointed.

Talk is not the only means of bullying available to the West. Air Serbia is the only European airline company with active routes to Russia, a fact that has not gone unnoticed. Over two days in a row last month, NATO warplanes closely followed Air Serbia flights coming from Moscow, the second of which tracked the airliner inside Russian airspace. It was a clear attempt at intimidation, prompting Vučić to announce that his government would "request information from NATO to see who was trying to be the smart guy and with what fighter planes they were endangering civil aviation and civilians on a flight…" [12]

Most of Serbia's trade is with European nations, so it aspires to join the EU. During the decade that it has been a candidate, Serbia has been asked to clear one hurdle after another as it chases a moving target. The main sticking point is the insistence by EU and US officials on Serbia agreeing to the independence of Kosovo, its province that was ripped away through NATO violence. No politician in Serbia could be elected as president who would agree to the violation of the nation's territorial integrity, and that creates an insurmountable impasse on advancing to EU membership. "As sweetly as you are now talking about the territorial integrity of [Bosnia-Herzegovina] and Ukraine," Vučić recently responded to an unsympathetic German reporter, "why didn't you say so in 1999 about Serbia? When it comes to territorial integrity, I would ask you to step into our shoes. In 1999, no one was interested in Serbia's territorial integrity."[13]

Despite the challenges in attaining EU membership, Vučić argues that economic factors necessitate that "our strategic path is the path to Europe," and Serbia has no alternative. [14] How that goal can be achieved in the face of Western intransigence is another question. For many in Serbia, weary of Western threats and overweening demands, the concept of joining the EU is beginning to curdle. Unrelenting demands, pressure, and blackmail have taken a toll, and for the first time, a poll of Serbian citizens showed a majority are opposed to membership. [15]

Certainly, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, founder of the Movement of Socialists, a coalition partner with Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party, has started to sour on EU membership. Vulin regards the demand for sanctions as a clear signal "that the EU does not want Serbia" and adds, "They measure our love for Europe with hatred of Russia…I don't want to hate anyone." [16] Vulin believes that for Western leaders, "it is more important for Russia to be defeated than to achieve peace in Ukraine." Serbia, he says, does not want to play that game. "The countries that bombed us, I would not say that they have the moral right to ask us to join their own policy." [17]

It is also apparent that the benefits of EU membership do not apply equally to all, as Zoran Milanović, president of neighboring Croatia, pointed out recently regarding his nation's place in the union. "We give a lot. We win a little bit. Some things cross all borders, how they treat us and small nations." [18]

Serbia's strong economic relationships with China and Russia have long rankled Western leaders, who have never ceased trying to disrupt them. However, it is not in Serbia's interests to bend to US and EU dictates. Russian and especially Chinese firms have played an instrumental role in Serbia's ambitious infrastructure improvement project. Furthermore, China and Russia offer the most robust support Serbia can rely on in the United Nations to counter US attempts to formalize its violent theft of the province of Kosovo.

Western officials are unrelenting in demanding that Serbia consent to Kosovo's independence. Last year, US President Joe Biden sent an insulting "congratulatory" message to Vučić on Serbia's Statehood Day holiday. Biden encouraged Vučić to "take the hard steps" toward EU membership, including "instituting necessary reforms" and "mutual recognition" with Kosovo. [19] Earlier this month, with the support of Western officials, the province of Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe. [20] It also announced its goal of joining NATO. [21]Serbian intelligence services also learned that "two large countries" – it is not hard to guess which – are actively providing "serious logistical support" to Kosovo to compel more countries to recognize its independence. [22]

Responding to these provocative developments, Vučić remarked, "It is clear that key western countries are running this game," and that Serbia would oppose them peacefully and diplomatically but with "no surrender." The problem, he added, "is that everyone thinks they have the right to create Serbia's policies" and that "they have the right to order how Serbia will behave." [23]

Recently, G7 foreign ministers quickly followed up on the pressure campaign by issuing a statement calling upon Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia and "normalize" relations with Kosovo. [24] "G7 leaders hammered on the immutability of Ukrainian borders and urged Belgrade to join them unconditionally," Vučić observed, "even though those same countries in Serbia rudely violated the principle of border immutability two decades ago and robbed us of part of our territory." [25]

Serbia's stance has been consistent. "Our only principled position," announced Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, "is that we are against sanctions on Russia, as well as that we respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and consider it wrong to violate that integrity." [26]

Washington is not so consistent, treating international law as a menu, where an item may be chosen or ignored according to taste. Ukrainian territory is regarded as sacrosanct, whereas the US backed the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and currently campaigns for Serbian and international recognition for its theft of the province of Kosovo. Similarly, it is ramping up efforts to promote Taiwan's separation from China and encourage separatist tendencies on the mainland. The hypocrisy can be hard to stomach. "My guts turn when I hear of principles and respect for territorial integrity," Vučić complained. "They ask us to respect someone's integrity, and what about ours?" [27] Concerning the unceasing pressure on Serbia to recognize Kosovo, Vučić commented, "As they say, Ukraine will not give up its integrity at any cost, and then you demand that from Serbia. For Serbia to give up its integrity, it can only happen with a gun to the forehead." [28]

It is now Washington's moment. The United States believes it can capitalize on the conflict in Ukraine to more thoroughly impose its will on other nations and compel obedience in furtherance of geopolitical domination. Serbia, situated in Europe, is in a particularly vulnerable position. The population of Serbia is nearly united in opposing sanctions on Russia, with the percentage in support measuring in a single digit. An even lower number favors EU membership at the cost of recognizing Kosovo.[29] Yet, the EU sets those as the two primary conditions Serbia must meet for it to be welcomed into the union. Western punishment for Serbia's independence is already taking a toll, according to Vučić: "The price we pay is huge; we essentially have no access to the capital market." [30]

In the weeks and months ahead, Serbia can expect to be confronted by escalating threats and blackmail. Vučić vows that although his government will "try to preserve peace and the future of Serbia," it will not be easy. "I have never seen or dreamed of experiencing this in my life," he said. "I have never seen such pressure. We face hysteria, and no one wants to hear, let alone listen. Unprecedented hysteria; diplomacy no longer exists." [31] Western arrogance is not going to dissipate. It is in the DNA of imperialism. As a small nation, can Serbia maintain its sovereignty and independence and hold out against the combined might of the West? And what punishment will it have to take?

Notes.

[1] "Brnabic: Serbia to Donate 3 Mln Euros to Ukraine," Tanjug, May 5, 2022.

[2] "Србија Даје Помоћ Од Три Милиона Евра: За помоћ деци и расељенима унутар и ван Украјине," Večernje Novosti, May 5, 2022.

[3] "Вучић о гласању у УН: Првобитна одлука била је да будемо уздржани," Politika, April 7, 2022.

Milenković, D., "Четири Претње Пре Гласања: Како су западне дипломате притискале нашу земљу да би је натерале да подржи резолуцију против Русије, Večernje Novosti, April 9, 2022.

[4] Србија ће бити изузета из ЕУ санкција на нафту и гас, Politika, April 8, 2022.

[5] Katić, Nebojša, "Србија и политика санкција," Politika, April 23, 2022.

[6] Dunai, Martin, "Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic Rejects Sanctions on Russia," Financial Times, April 21, 2022.

[7] "Serbs See Pre-dawn Strike on Milosevic Villa as an Attack on Yugoslav History," Irish Times, April 23, 1999.

[8] Robert Fisk, "Taken in by the NATO Line," The Independent (London), July 7, 1999.

[9] "Can Serbia Survive the War in Ukraine? What the West is Threatening Us With?" B92, March 2, 2022.

[10] Александар Вучић за РТС: Незамисливе размере безобразлука оних који прете Србији, биће много тешко, Radio Television Serbia, April 7, 2022.

[11] "US Urges Serbia to Join Sanctions Against its Ally Russia," Associated Press, April 19, 2022.

"Вучић: Србиjа плаћа велику цену због неувођења санкциjа Русиjи," Tanjug, April 21, 2022.

[12] "НАТО ловац пратио лет 'Ер Србије' у руском ваздушном простору," Politika, April 7, 2022.

"NATO Warplanes Follow Air Serbia Jet Flying from Russia," Tanjug, April 8, 2022.

[13] "Покажите Мало Поштовања Према Земљи у Којој Је Убијено 82 Деце!Овако је Вучић одговорио на провокативно питање новинара Дојче велеа!," Večernje Novosti, May 5, 2022.

[14] "Вучић Поручио Грађанима: 'Огромни су притисци на нашу земљу, наставићемо да се боримо'," Večernje Novosti, May 6, 2022.

[15] Katy Dartford and AP, "For First Time, a Majority of Serbs Are Against Joining the EU – Poll," Euronews, April 22, 2022.

[16] http://www.mup.gov.rs/wps/portal/sr/aktuelno/aktivnosti/03c82eeb-80b9-4650-8ad4-18d2383d72dd

[17] Sideris, Spiros, "Minister: Those Who Bombed Serbia Cannot Ask it to Join Russia Sanctions," Euractiv, May 6, 2022.

[18] Jurica Kerbler, "Милановић у Вуковару: Нисам ултранационалиста, желим мир између Срба и Хрвата," Večernje Novosti, May 6, 2022.

[19] https://www.predsednik.rs/en/press-center/press-releases/congratulations-of-the-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-on-the-serbian-statehood-day

[20] Cvetkovic, Sandra and Baliu, Doruntina, "Kosovo Applies for Council of Europe in Move Sure to Anger Serbia," Radio Free Europe, May 12, 2022.

[21] "Kosovo PM Albin Kurti Expresses Willingness to Join NATO and European Union," First Channel News, May 18, 2022.

[22] "Четири државе повукле признање КиМ, две велике земље помажу Приштини," Politika, May 13, 2022.

[23] "Нема повлачења пред уценама и ултиматумима," Politika, May 13, 2022.

[24] https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/-/2531266

[25] D. Milinković, "Три Срамне Уцене Г7 Пред Србијом: Отели нам Косово, а траже да поштујемо украјинске границе," Večernje Novosti, May 16, 2022.

[26] Brnabic: The Main Task is to Preserve Peace and Stability in the Region," Telegraf, April 20, 2022.

[27] https://vucic.rs/Vesti/Najnovije/a49913-Vucic-Svi-zajedno-moramo-da-radimo-na-istoj-politici-vucic.rs.html

[28] "Vučić for RV Prva: 'I Won't Give Territorial Integrity of Serbia at Any Cost, Period," B92, May 15, 2022.

[29] "Више од 80 одсто грађана Србије против санкција Русији и уласка у НАТО," Politika, May 20, 2022.

[30] "Vučić for RV Prva: 'I Won't Give Territorial Integrity of Serbia at Any Cost, Period," B92, May 15, 2022.

[31] "Вучић Са Патријархом: Притисци ће бити све већи, ја ово никада нисам видео – наше је да сачувамо мир," Večernje Novosti, May 18, 2022.

"Vučić with the Patriarch: 'Unprecedented Hysteria, Diplomacy No Longer Exists," B92, May 18, 2022.

Gregory Elich is a Korea Policy Institute associate and on the Board of Directors of the Jasenovac Research Institute. He is a member of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea, a columnist for Voice of the People, and one of the co-authors of Killing Democracy: CIA and Pentagon Operations in the Post-Soviet Period, published in the Russian language. He is also a member of the Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in Asia and the Pacific. His website is https://gregoryelich.org  Follow him on Twitter at @GregoryElich.