{"id":51880,"date":"2023-11-28T13:47:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T10:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=longreads&p=51880"},"modified":"2023-11-28T13:47:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T10:47:13","slug":"lukasenka-hoping-serbia-to-drop-its-support-for-western-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/51880\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka hoping Serbia to drop its support for Western sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 in Belgrade, December 3, 2019\r\n\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Belarusian leader's press office)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On November 20, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka told the newly appointed ambassador to Belgrade “to sort out the policy that Serbia pursues and wants to pursue with regard to Belarus.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka’s big grudge against Belgrade is sanctions. In 2021, Serbia joined the EU sanctions against Minsk, and supported subsequent packages imposed by the bloc over the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Belarusian government responded with a ban on imports of certain agricultural and food products from Serbia. Paradoxically, Belgrade did not impose restrictions on Russia, which started the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they want to wag the tail, roughly speaking, and support the European-American sanctions against Belarus, that’s their business, let them do it,” the Belarusian leader said at his meeting with Ambassador Siarhiej Malino\u016dski. “To declare one thing, but to do something completely different – no one needs such a policy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2022, when tension heightened between Serbia and Kosovo, he said, “Well, if they want to sit on three chairs, as the saying goes, they will not succeed. There are us, Russia, the European Union, America and others . . . They want to be good to everyone. But they will not be allowed to sit on all these chairs, and first of all by the EU, which they are so eager to join.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka also recalled the sanctions and his visit to Belgrade in 1999, when he supported Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 amid the NATO bombing campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the Belarusian ruler is discontent with Serbia\u2019s current policy, he praised Belgrade on several occasions recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 15, for example, in his message to Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 on Statehood Day, \u0141uka\u0161enka described the Serbian president\u2019s line as “balanced” and bilateral ties as “fraternal friendship.” He noted that “mutual support at the international arena” corresponds to “the interests of our peoples.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka wished Vu\u010di\u0107 luck in joining the EU<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In December 2019, before Belarus became an international pariah, \u0141uka\u0161enka met with Vu\u010di\u0107 in Belgrade. The talks were long and cordial, and received positive media coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian ruler, probably, would never want to repeat what he said then. In 2019 he argued that “major geopolitical players create tensions in the world,” that empires stage trade wars, and that Belarus and Serbia, not possessing huge resources like Russia or the United States, have to “earn wealth with their sweat and sometimes blood.”

“Empires . . . will never cooperate with us without preconditions, they will definitely ask for something in return, even without having done anything for you,” \u0141uka\u0161enka said. He also noted that the rules of survival in this raging world were the same for Belarus and Serbia, meaning that the countries needed to strike a balance in their friendships with the West and Russia. “Unfortunately, you, like us, have this fate to fly with two wings.”

In reference to Belgrade, one wing, in his view, was a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, which implied stronger ties with Russia, and the other wing was Serbia’s bid to join the EU.

“We respect your country’s aspiration to join the EU and wish you to make this journey with dignity. God willing, you will succeed in what you wish,” \u0141uka\u0161enka told Vu\u010di\u0107.

Serbia’s strategy has not changed since then. It still seeks EU membership, and has been an official candidate since 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, \u0141uka\u0161enka’s policy has changed radically. Two wings for him is a blasphemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friedman: Minsk angry that Belgrade supported sanctions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka is mad at Serbia because Minsk is not in the same position as Belgrade, which pursues improved ties with the EU and the United States while seeking to get as much as possible from Russia, said political analyst Alexander Friedman.

On the one hand, the Serbian government is looking for “economic preferences from Russia,\u201d but on the other, “when under pressure from Europeans and Americans, they cooperate, because Serbia sees its future in the EU,” he told The Viewer<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vu\u010di\u0107, for instance, has repeatedly pointed out that the West was putting pressure on him to join the Russia sanctions. In late October, he said that Belgrade\u2019s refusal to do so “strengthens the reputation of Serbia as a free and independent country.”

The Serbian president did not mention Belarus, but it is clear that in his view the sanctions against Minsk do not reflect on Belgrade’s reputation. In general, the distinction that he makes between Moscow and Minsk only emphasizes the second-rate status of \u0141uka\u0161enka in the eyes of his former friend.

Although \u0141uka\u0161enka has never considered EU membership for Belarus, before 2020 his policy was similar to Belgrade\u2019s, but with a greater bias toward Moscow. He performed a balancing act between Russia and the West. He might wish to return to that geopolitical strategy, but now he has to fly with one wing.

No doubt, before 2020 he felt much more comfortable and safe than nowadays, on Kremlin’s tight leash. His vision has also changed. Now he considers countries like Serbia two-faced, unwilling to stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight against the collective West in the name of Slavic brotherhood.

“[During the war in Yugoslavia] we were on your side, and now that we are in a similar situation, you are cuddling up to the West – these is his current bitterness,” explains Friedman. \u201cAnd this is the position that he sells to Russia, thus emphasizing that he is on its side, that he is loyal, while all the others, who owe Russia, respond with black ingratitude.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slunkin: ambassadors have limited influence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to ambassadors’ ability to sort policies out, \u201cit is usually quite limited,” Pave\u0142 Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat turned political analyst, told The Viewer<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When making decisions, states are primarily guided by their national interests. Serbia prioritizes the EU over Belarus, which is quite natural. The extent to which this trend can be reversed depends much more on the Serbian leadership’s assessment of what’s happening in the EU and the region than on the new ambassador\u2019s diplomatic talents,” he stressed.

Slunkin said that the new Belarusian ambassador to Serbia, “has a reputation of an intellectual, calm, balanced and reasonable person.”

“He headed the department, which analyzed political, military and economic developments in the world and assessed them through the prism of Belarus’ interests. Documents from this department are used in decision-making on foreign policy issues, and the government\u2019s strategy,” said.

Earlier, Malino\u016dski “headed the department of Europe at the foreign ministry and worked as an adviser at the Belarusian Embassy in Germany.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade between the countries exceeded $175 million in 2022 with Belarusian exports prevailing, according to the foreign ministry. It rose from just over $110 million in 2020. Malino\u016dski is expected to sustain the growth trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most importantly, the ambassador is expected to persuade Belgrade to change its position on sanctions against Belarus. Obviously, he will not be able to jump above the belt no matter how frustrated \u0141uka\u0161enka might be with Belgrade\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 20, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka told the newly appointed ambassador to Belgrade “to sort out the policy that Serbia pursues and wants to pursue with regard to Belarus.” \u0141uka\u0161enka’s big grudge against Belgrade is sanctions. In 2021, Serbia joined the EU sanctions against Minsk, and supported subsequent packages imposed by the bloc over the Russian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":51326,"template":"","rubric":[16,24],"class_list":["post-51880","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u0141uka\u0161enka hoping Serbia to drop its support for Western sanctions | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On November 20, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka told the newly appointed ambassador to Belgrade "to sort out the policy that Serbia pursues and wants to pursue with\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/51880\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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