Vucic raises the alarm about the West-Russia war

There Serbia is preparing for a possible war between the West and Russia which could explode at any moment, “even in three, four months”. Word of Alexander Vucicpresident of the Balkan state, who in a long interview with the Swiss newspaper Die Weltwoche he has outlined his vision for a future that he believes is quite bleak.

Vucic’s alarm

Vucic, speaking with the historic Swiss conservative newspaper, raised an alarm that appears decidedly dystonic compared to relaxed tones, from film or holiday set, of the recent Puglia G7 summit, in which the great themes of the world were discussed between a gala dinner and a concert as if they were an aside, and which deserves to be listened to. “We are a free country that fights for peace”, underlines Vucic, adding of consider it clear that Russia and the West no longer seek a diplomatic agreement.

Let’s look at the last few days: the G7 before and after division between the West and the rest of the world at the Swiss Peace Conference on Ukraine in recent days they hinted at how little Euro-Atlantic leaders have a desire to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. But at the same time also the “proposal” of Russia to Ukraine foreshadows an end to the conflict surrender in a war that Moscow did not win on the field as the only way out for Kiev. This creates a clear short circuit in which, Vucic explains, “everyone only talks about war, no one talks about peace”. Indeed, “peace is a forbidden word. It is said about Ukraine that the war must be won”, in a more or less direct form, “to ensure a future peace. But no one says what peace it is.” Neither in Russia nor in the West.

The head of state of Belgrade is explicit, a river in flood. “You can’t negotiate without the other side at the table,” notes Vucic, “and that’s not happening.” Note how “the West thinks it can defeat Putin easily, wear him out in Ukraine”.

The recipe for disaster

Ukraine, for Vucic, has weakened Russia “but it is certainly not enough to defeat and overthrow Putin”. Everyone in Europe, according to Vucic, “is a hero. But no one tells the people that following this path will pay a heavy price.” Hence a clear warning: “We must stopand every warmongering attitude: we are ever closer to the abyss”.

For Vucic NATO and the USA “could not bear it a Russian victory in Ukraine” which would “annul its political legitimacy, and this is not acceptable for the USA”. Furthermore, a success for Moscow would deteriorate the geopolitical position of Europe and the collective West.”

Finally, accepting a Russian victory in Ukraine “would open a Pandora’s box because it would clear other movements elsewhere”, legitimizing the logic of aggression and the possibility of changing the borders with cannons. But Russia is also fighting an existential battle: “if Putin loses, Russia may no longer exist as we know it,” says Vucic. And “when you have two fields so distant from each other, with their desires and their expectations, you notice that everything is at stake”.

“No one can afford to lose”

For Vucic the fact that “no one can afford to lose” creates problems makes it legitimate to think that “we are close to a real disaster”. The Serbian head of state, reaffirming that he does not intend to sacrifice “a single man” in this process, reaffirmed Serbia’s line of clear neutrality, Country whose historical proximity to Russia due to the common Slavic and Orthodox heritage it certainly did not create the basis for a leveling of Belgrade on Moscow.

Serbia has refused to apply sanctions to Moscowbut at the same time it sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, defended the principle of territorial integrity of the invaded country and expanded its rearmament policies towards the West purchasing French fighters. It also banned its citizens from joining the Ukrainian militias and groups such as the Russian Wagner. A line of clear neutrality which therefore makes the appeal of the leader of Belgrade even more in-depth, interesting and, in a certain sense, alarming. Whose attitude appears so distant from the jovial context of the G7, in which these alarms were received and analyzed as if they came from another dimension or a parallel world. But in the coming months, reality will have to be reckoned with, if it really is as alarming as Vucic describes it.