Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade and candidate for MP from the “Student List,” Jovo Bakić repeated that the new Serbian government will not impose sanctions on Russia. In an interview with Podgorica’s “Vijesti,” Bakić said that he believes that anyone who, like him, experienced sanctions in Serbia in the 1990s cannot support sanctions against any country.
“Serbia cannot harm the huge Russian Federation with sanctions. But symbolically it harms, even more so to Serbia itself than to Russia. I am personally opposed, and we have it in our program as the Student List,” said Bakić. “The problem will arise around Kosovo and Metohija, because the independence of Kosovo and Metohija, although the EU is forcing us to recognize it – we cannot fulfill that [demand]. Our Constitution says otherwise, and we have committed ourselves to the people of Serbia that we will respect the Constitution from the first to the last letter…We are offering an agreement to the Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija for the benefit of all citizens living there, but if that implies international recognition – that will not happen,” Bakić said.
Ah, yes, the Most Holy Preamble of the Ultra-Perfect Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, that sacred suicide pact we all must join and yodel “Oy Kosovo, Kosovo!” They might as well have stuck Mars as an inalienable part of Serbia in that preamble.
The foreign policy position of the “Student List” is clear – Serbia will not impose sanctions on Russia. That would be like joining the Chetniks [losing side] in 1945, said Prof. Dr. Zoran Stojiljković, a future MP from the “Student Ticket”, speaking to RT Balkans. Russian RT (Russia Today) propaganda outlet is banned in the European Union.
“Not to mention the type of Serbian senses [sic]. Who are the only ones that never bombed us? Well, Russia, of course.” Stojiljković also pointed out the specificity of Serbian society: most citizens oppose sanctions against Russia and do not support joining NATO, while on the other hand, there is also a geostrategic, primarily economic, aspiration toward the European Union.”
That’s Serbia for you – the EU should give us free monies, while we root for Russia. Our society thinks it is entitled to it “bEcAuSe tHeY b0mBed uS, n0t fAiR”.
“Serbia has no interest in imposing sanctions on Russia now, when peace negotiations have been announced, and going back to 1945. It’s like joining the Četniks in 1945. Completely illogical.”
“Europe is in crisis. We need it most from the perspective of certain economic, social, and value characteristics. But Europe, let’s be frank, is deeply divided and has become a kind of periphery on a planetary level. We must be aware that a kind of multipolarism is being built in which a specific position is sought. So, if you ask me about the policy of the ‘Student List’, it will not be anti-Russian,” Stojiljković pointed out.
So there’s that dream of a multipolar world emerging again, the opposite to the Collective West being Russia, China, and their BRICS tentacles, has been a Serbian dream for decades. As long as “dumb, decadent Westerners” are footing the bill. They “owe” us, ya know.
“We are fully aware of the geopolitical and energy situation in which Serbia finds itself, and we are grateful to Russia for the favorable gas arrangement, as well as for the cooperation regarding the Serbian Oil Industry,” Student List representative Professor Vladan Kuzmanović told RT Balkan.
When Donald Trump deservedly gets blasted over the “Putin the humanitarian” nonsense, why isn’t the same dire ire aimed at the Student Ticket in Serbia, who are grateful to Russia over their dealings with – get this – the government they just deposed? What are they “grateful” for?
“I think the government’s policy was passive, and, if you like, it was also dishonest towards the Russian Federation. It always looked after its own interests, not the interests of the Republic of Serbia, but the interests of remaining in power,” said Kuzmanović.
Gee, poor Russia. Speaking for a Russian media banned in the EU and elsewhere, no less.
See, this Norwegian guy gets it. “In Serbia, Russia has won, and the EU has lost“, writes Jon Kværne. Exactly, doesn’t matter who is in power with this kind of dominant ideology.
“The student movement is also permeated with unhealthy nationalism, pro-Russian attitudes, and obvious infiltrators from the current regime.” Jon Kvaerne wrote this in an Aftenposten article published just before the elections – he also made the same wrong prediction as I did that Vučić would most likely win.
Michael Martens in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes in detail, and he is not making anything up or exaggerating, “A program full of nationalism” about the Serbian Student Ticket foreign policy platform that he claims, and he is right, “does not bode well for the Balkans.”
“This program seamlessly aligns with the Serbian nationalism of Vučić and his ousted Progressive Party on key issues. It is a document of backwardness. Any attempt to implement it would inevitably fuel conflict in the region…For Serbian students, Kosovo is a ‘so-called republic’.”
“Regarding Kosovo, the student movement is relying on the “traditional partnership” with Russia “to resolve open issues of common interest.” Consequently, it rejects the introduction of sanctions against Russia…it is pursuing a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with China”, Martens writes.
Speaking to TVP World, Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, when asked, “Will it be possible for Serbia to join the EU if the country won’t follow the bloc’s Russia sanctions?” said, “Probably it will not be possible that a country who is not aligning with us on the strategic interest, which is foreign policy and security policy, meaning being together in fighting Russia.”
Marta Kos already warned that Serbia cannot sit on two chairs – expect aid from the EU while getting gas from Russia.
Student List’s Radomir Saičić, speaking to RT Balkans: Student List will send a delegation to Russia for negotiations on gas supplies to Serbia.
It does sting that the foreign commentariat insists that the Student Ticket’s victory is some change and how it doesn’t matter that these are just another set of vatnik bozos because “they’ll fight corruption”. This is the same kind of wishful thinking that we got in 2012 when Vučić’s party got reelected. “Oh, the nationalism and pro-Russia attitude doesn’t matter, they’ll fight corruption.” Yup, anti-corruption demagogy, revanchism over Kosovo, grievances over “historical injustices”, complaints that Serbia got too Westernized, that it is exploited by foreign interests, that it lost its Holy Fantastic Identity – the exact same BS we got in 2012.
Anti-corruption demagogy is a tool of charlatans and demagogues, even Trumpster promised to “drain the swamp”. It is impossible to have a non-corrupt pro-Russian government. Don’t fight corruption – apply the law and order, and join the EU, that would cure Serbia’s ills.
The liberators even have the same music taste as the oppressors – the ghastly Serbian/Balkan turbo-folk music that is nothing but an unspeakable crime against the senses. “But it’s our culture, we must preserve it, it’s under attack by evil modernity!”
When the entire planet keeps patting them on the back and lauding yet another set of bozos, the dopamine hits are a validation of how a wonderful an idea it is to keep on keeping on, only under a different management. Serbia has actual problems that don’t involve preserving the icky culture that created those problems in the first place. Which part of this does not compute? At least try not to repeat our mistakes and get bogged down in stupid identitarianism and imaginary grievances while the air quality is so bad you can taste it.
