Three German media outlets wrote almost simultaneously and similarly about the situation in the Western Balkans, the allegedly failed strategy of the US and the EU, and the “dominance of Serbia that must be dismantled.”
According to diplomats and experts that Blic daily contacted for a statement, this indicates that certain power centres in the West are trying to change their course towards our region and implement a tougher policy.
One of the measures toward implementing this hardline policy could be “turning off the financial taps”, a situation that hardly any country in the Western Balkans can sustain for more than a few weeks, analysts say.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claims that “Russia in Europe can rely only on three allies” – on EU member Hungary, EU candidate country Serbia and in the half of Bosnia and Herzegovina which is under the control of Bosnian Serbs, which rulers are firmly loyal to Putin, albeit with different nuances, writes Michael Martens.
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is not as openly pro-Russian as Milorad Dodik (President of the Republic of Srpska). Serbia even supported the resolution of the UN General Assembly against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, Belgrade did not join the European sanctions against Russia and supports it wherever it can,” wrote Martens.
In the article written by Erich Rathfelder, the Berlin-based Tageszeitung says that “the EU and the USA want to win over the Serbian nationalists with a policy of understanding, which is a dangerous course”.
Finally, in his article titled “Serbia’s Domination should be Dismantled” guest journalist Muamer Bećirović writes for Berliner Zeitung that “only Germany can do this”. He also calls upon Germany to play the same role as Austria-Hungary before the First World War in the Western Balkans.
“The only country that could establish order in the Balkans and permanently secure its own strategic interests in the region is Germany. It is by far the most important trading partner of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia, and geographically speaking, it is only a few hundred kilometres away,” Bećirović assesses.
Vučić: Thank you for the promotion
Reacting to the German media reports about him and Serbia, the Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić said that he was sincerely grateful to CNN and Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung for “promoting him almost every day”.
Diplomat Srećko Đukić points out that this is a symptomatic phenomenon, i.e. that certain German and American media outlets are now very interested in the situation in the Western Balkans.
“Before the German media, CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Post all reported about our region and also received a letter from European parliamentarians asking for the West’s stronger role in the Western Balkans. There is obviously dissatisfaction with the policy towards the entire region, but also towards Serbia,” Đukić adds.
Đukić goes on to say that the US and EU’s soft policy towards official Belgrade and the Western Balkans has clearly not borne fruit and has caused dissatisfaction.
“Everything indicates that the West will implement a tougher policy towards Belgrade and will no longer rely on promises. I think that the EU and the USA will present a new agenda towards the Western Balkans in September. In addition to Berlin and London, which are traditionally present in this region, Washington will also play the leading role,” Đukić concludes.
(Blic, 16.08.2023)
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