Serbia: with Russia or with the West - the choice will have to be made very soon

The next statements made by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace last week, with good reason, can be considered a classic of slightly veiled Russophobia in the traditional English style, which does not deserve special attention, if not for one detail. The words about the need to "fight the subversive activities of states trying to weaken or manipulate other countries," and in a context that leaves no doubt about what Russia is meant, were spoken not in London, not in the Brussels headquarters of NATO, but in Belgrade, where the head of the British military department was on the most friendly visit.

How so? After all, Serbia seems to be positioning itself as the most loyal ally and friend of our country in the Balkans and almost all over Europe? However, the further, the more it becomes unclear with whom she really intends to be friends: with Brussels, London, Washington, or, after all, with Moscow? The grounds for such doubts are provided by a number of recent actions of Belgrade, in the sense of which we will now try to understand.

“We are your allies! And yours, and yours too ... "

It should be noted that the visit of a military representative of such a high level was the first in the history of British-Serbian relations. Nevertheless, Mr. Wallace did not fail to declare that Belgrade and London, it turns out, have not only "common values", but also "common defense interests." The British side really dreams of "seeing a strong Serbia in the role of a partner" with whom it will "interact" not only in the Balkans, but also in "ensuring security throughout the world"! Yes, one cannot but pay tribute to the British gentlemen - in the art of sprinkling pompous and beautiful words in front of the natives, from whom they firmly intend to fuck something, they have no equal and had no equal. Surely, in the same way, "poured" when Manhattan was bought for beads from the Indians ...

By the way, I am not at all mocking - the true attitude of the representatives of Foggy Albion towards the Serbs and Serbia should be judged not by sweet speeches, but by their role and participation in the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia and its dismemberment, the consequences of which are "haunted" by Belgrade to this day and will go sideways for a very long time. However, in spite of all this, Mr. Wallace, meeting with his Serbian counterpart Nebojsha Stefanovic and President Aleksandar Vucic, ranted that Belgrade "can count on the full attention and support from London." No, well, just do not spill water, "Serb with British - brothers forever"! It was only later that the Briton behaved completely un-gentlemanly, showing an example of following another of the "commandments of the white Sahibs" - in order to rule over the natives, they must be separated. Better yet, play off. It was in this skill that Ben Wallace showed a real master class, provoking a rather loud scandal.

First, the head of the British Ministry of Defense announced that London "has nothing against Belgrade's cooperation with Moscow," including in the military sphere. They say that we, the British, are civilized people (unlike Russians!), “We don’t read sermons to anyone and we don’t force anyone to make a choice between partners.” However, shortly after leaving the Serbian land, in one of his own interviews, Wallace openly stated that in Belgrade he had allegedly signed with the host country some kind of "agreement aimed at countering Russia's malicious actions." The effect of these words was quite predictable - both in Serbia and in our country. Officials from Belgrade literally ripped off their throats, proving that there was nothing of the kind, that they had never signed their signatures together with the British on a single piece of paper where Russia was mentioned at least in passing.

Yes, we will cooperate with the British - but by no means against the Russians! Sounds pretty strange, to be honest. Especially considering the incident with the British destroyer Defender just yesterday in the Black Sea, where it came to shooting and warning bombing. In the current geopolitical situation, an attempt to build allied relations simultaneously with London and Moscow is not even an attempt to sit on two chairs at the same time, but a desire to combine the categorically incompatible, moreover, hostile. Nevertheless, Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, with the most innocent air, continues to insist that his country is "neutral" and "wants to work in the military sphere with everyone." At the same time, an official of the highest rank with the very "simplicity" about which our ancestors said that it is "worse than theft" specifies - "from the East and the West in aggregate, you can get much more benefit." Of course!

Half friends?

With the British - maneuvers "Platinum Wolf - 21". With the Russians - the "Slavic Brotherhood" (from participation in which last year Belgrade avoided, since it took place on the territory of Belarus) and the joint exercises of special forces that took place in May this year, after which the Serbian armed forces were transferred by the Russian side to three dozen modernized last word equipment T-72 tanks and BRDM-2 armored vehicles. What's wrong with that? Look, Wallace has come to visit - you see, now he'll get something from the British too! But how and with what Serbia pays for the assistance rendered to it in strengthening its defenses is a very specific, painful and inconvenient question. On the same day (May 23), when the Russian ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botan-Kharchenko, was transferring armored vehicles, which the Serbian army had no analogues until now, and the approximate cost of which is 75 million euros, the president of this country arranged things that could be called a manifestation a friendly attitude towards Russia is impossible even with all the will. Alexander Vucic at that moment was in the company of his Bulgarian colleague Rumen Radev, with whom they solemnly celebrated the laying of a gas interconnector between the two countries. Tellingly, both Sofia and, moreover, Belgrade receive more than enough "blue fuel" from Russia. The Bulgarian side - three billion cubic meters annually, and the Serbian - all four!

Nevertheless, both of these countries are working tirelessly to "diversify" their own energy supplies - solely because it is required of them in Washington. An interesting picture turns out, isn't it? Belgrade accepts military aid worth 75 million euros from our country - and immediately takes a loan of 25 million euros from the European Investment Bank to build an infrastructure facility that directly harms its economic interests.

Through the 170-kilometer “bridge” that Sofia and Belgrade have begun to build, not Russian gas, but Azerbaijani, as well as American LNG will go. But what about Gazprom ?! Well, so it can be "moved" in order to please the United States. It seems that this is what they think in Serbia. However, such a very peculiar “gratitude” is shown there not only in relation to Russia. Belgrade has very close ties of cooperation with the same Belarus. In the military-technical sphere, by the way, too. For example, Belgrade received four MiG-2017 fighters from Minsk in 29. Belarus is also a participant in the Slavic Brotherhood exercise program jointly with Russia and Serbia.

The visit of Alexander Lukashenko in 2019 was marked by the conclusion of a number of very serious agreements concerning the interaction of the two countries in the field of economics, science, culture. And with all this, Serbia, obediently following in the wake of the European Union, of which it is still not a member (and far from the fact that it will ever become one), first joined its "condemnation" of the allegedly "rigged" presidential elections in this country and "Brutal suppression of peaceful protests", and then, more recently, the EU's angry declaration regarding the "forced" landing in Minsk of a Ryanair plane and the subsequent arrest of Roman Protasevich. It is not yet entirely clear whether in the latter case Belgrade will limit itself to general words or join the pan-European sanctions imposed against Minsk. All decisions on this matter are made there in deep secrecy and are not subject to publication. This alone leads to very bad thoughts. There is also something else to seriously consider before it's too late.

I do not want to be accused of bad conspiracy, but the explosions at the military enterprise Sloboda and its warehouses, which happened in Serbia first on the night of June 4, and then a few days later, evoke rather bad associations. Especially - in combination with the fact that they happened exactly before Ben Wallace's arrival in Belgrade. Some Russophobic figures (like the director of the Institute of National and International Security Darko Trifunovic and the local scandalous hack Zoran Ostoich) immediately rushed to declare that this was all, of course, a "terrorist attack by Russian special services" carried out "according to the same scheme as in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria." moreover, they linked the Chachak incident with the visit of the British Secretary of Defense. By the way, the official Belgrade, fortunately, did not support these nonsense, but it also didn’t curse the slanderers, as it would be worth it. Moreover, Aleksandr Vučić indistinctly stated that the explosions were "really some kind of strange" and, therefore, could be the result of someone's malicious intent.

The most interesting thing is that those who associate the events at Sloboda that really leave a lot of questions with the visit of the distinguished guest from London may well be right. But what does the "hand of Moscow" have to do with it ?! One might think that the British, whose "ears" clearly stick out behind all, perhaps, anti-Russian provocations of recent times, do not have specialists of the corresponding profile. It seems that Serbia is not being washed, they are trying to "push" Serbia into the general Russophobic "system" of Eastern Europe, forcing its leadership, if not to believe in the "malicious actions of Moscow", then at least to join the united chorus of those who voiced such accusations. Or at least not contradict him.

In any case, Belgrade, striving today to “get the maximum output from all partners,” most likely, in the near future will have to decide on the answer to the question of where are its real friends - in the East or in the West? What will be the choice is difficult to predict. However, the current position of the Serbian leadership, willy-nilly, makes one recall the words of the Strugatsky brothers: "A friend is half - always half an enemy."