Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov evacuated himself over Serbian Russophiliacs: “The European Union is blackmailing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, forcing him to align with EU decisions regarding Russia, but he has courageously withstood this pressure for over a year.“
Lavrov’s statement is consistent with the Kremlin’s policy towards Serbia so far – Russian authorities are firmly in Vučić’s camp and are very vocal in their support for the Serbian government. Zelenskyy’s visit and the ammo sales issue didn’t put a dent in Serbia-Russia official relations.
Mr. Horseface’s statements also run contrary to the conventional wisdom of the Serbian and international commentariat, who keep yapping that it is the EU that keeps Vučić’s populist front in power.
In an X post, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, for his Ukraine Independence Day greetings.
In Serbian public discourse, Zelenskyy’s recent visit to Belgrade is still being used by the anti-government camp to fan the flames of anti-EU hysteria. This particular reactionary anti-EU agitprop calls its lies “stabilocracy” or “stabilitocracy” (depending on how illiterate the person pushing the whole nonsensical theory is).
The narrative coming from the student protesters, alt-right opposition, and the supposedly pro-EU public figures is that the European Union, namely its executive arm, the European Commission, magically keeps the Serbian government in power for various reasons that range from getting access to lithium mining to keeping Serbia away from (too much) Russian influence. Such disinformation is commonly pushed by foreign commentators like Florian Bieber and various, both Serbian and Western media outlets. In this case, the peddlers of this BS further extrapolate that Zelenskyy’s visit is somehow supposed to ensure that the European Union tolerates Vučić’s next electoral victory and current and further repression against government opponents.
Moscow remains unimpressed by the displays of love coming from the student movement. Russians tend to throw a bone or two of affection to the established alt-right opposition in Serbia, with the assistance of formerly professional Serbian non-government media, who are now mutated into pro-Kremlin nationalist trumpets of Jericho, indistinguishable from the government media.
And why would Russia ditch the Progressives, anyway? Russia’s chief economic interest, the Serbian Russian-owned Serbian Oil Industry (NIS), is still in their hands, with the sales negotiations dragging on into infinity, with OFAC extending the JANAF Croatian pipeline licence for oil transport to NIS until September 30th.
NIS continues with its charm offensive in Serbia by donating land to the Serbian Orthodox Church Vojlovica Monastery complex, which is located within the grounds of the Pancevo Oil Refinery. Keeping a monastery on refinery grounds is already idiotic to begin with, let alone giving more money to the privileged, rich as Crassus Church, which is considered to be a national institution of the Serbian people.
The Russian businesses in Serbia are also being expanded with the arrival of the Fix Price discount store chain.
Zakharova did provide some entertainment by trying to milk the supposed “scandal” over the German journalist Michael Martens’ question during the Zelenskyy-Vučić press conference about how Europeans can help Ukraine “kill more Russians.” She blabbed out (and Serbian media from both aisles rushed to parrot it) that Martens’ grandfather was a high-ranking Nazi officer who served in the High Command of the Wehrmacht. Everyone that Russians don’t like is branded as genetic nazis, ya know.
Some displays of the public’s affection for Russia were in order, such as a so-called car liturgy “in support of Russia and the Russian people” that was held in Belgrade, Serbia, with some 20 cars participating. A similar event was organized during Zelenskyy’s visit to Serbia. The processions of long lines of cars honking and displaying flags are usually seen in celebration of weddings in the Balkans. But from which side was this: the bride or the groom?
Serbianism 