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Friday, January 18, 2019 5:03:44 AM
Putin Gets Red Carpet Treatment in Serbia, a Fulcrum Once More
"A New Cold War Has Begun"
President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia welcomed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Belgrade on Thursday. Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
By Marc Santora and Neil MacFarquhar
Jan. 17, 2019
BELGRADE, Serbia — The water in Belgrade’s central fountain was lit Russian red, ceremonial artillery blasts thundered at the palace, and tens of thousands of Serbs were bused in from around the country to welcome President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday.
If the tableau seemed more fitting for the days of kings than a typical state visit, these are no ordinary times for Serbia, which once again finds itself tugged between East and West in ways hauntingly reminiscent of the Cold War.
Then, Yugoslavia, with its capital in Belgrade, managed to stay out of the Soviet bloc, though it was nominally aligned with it. Now, amid resurgent competition for political and economic influence in Europe, especially in the Balkans, that strategy seems suddenly relevant.
With Serbia seeking to join the European Union without damaging its ties with Moscow, this country on the eastern flank of Europe is in play all over again.
[...]
Even before he arrived, Mr. Putin seemed to be everywhere. Billboards on the highway welcomed Serbia’s “dear friend.” His face was plastered on T-shirts, mugs, pins and even underwear. As he toured historic sites with Mr. Vucic by his side, the Russian national anthem rang out time and again.
In recent years, more than 100 pro-Russian media outlets and nongovernmental organizations have taken root in Serbia, according to the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, a Belgrade-based think tank.
Jelena Milic, the head of the think tank, termed Moscow’s varied efforts to exert influence “Putin’s orchestra.”
Her study, “The Russification of Serbia .. https://www.ceas-serbia.org/en/prenosimo/2918-the-russification-of-serbia ,” detailed efforts by Moscow to undermine public support for European integration and to delay rapprochement with the West.
“There is more and more evidence that some members of ‘Putin’s orchestra’ are financed directly from Moscow,” she wrote.
Serbia is a crucial transit point in Russia’s plans to extend its TurkStream pipeline to supply natural gas across southern Europe, a project that has provoked misgivings in the European Union.
Russian investment in Serbia’s economy has already exceeded $4 billion, Mr. Putin told Politika .. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/59680 . It faces stiff competition from China and Turkey among others, however.
To highlight the cultural ties, Mr. Putin visited Belgrade’s newly restored Church of St. Sava, one of the world’s largest Orthodox Christian churches, where Russian businessmen underwrote the cost of the gilded mosaic lining the dome.
[...]
Mr. Jaksic, the political columnist, said Kosovo is at the heart of the balancing act Mr. Vucic is trying to pull off.
“It all starts with the mother of all problems, and that is Kosovo .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/world/europe/kosovo-serbia.html?module=inline ,” he said.
Even if Mr. Vucic managed to achieve lasting peace with Kosovo, Mr. Jaksic said, it might be at the expense of Serbia’s democracy.
The police at Mr. Ivanovic’s offices in Mitrovica, Kosovo, last year. His death is a rallying point for those who say Mr. Vucic has created a
climate of fear. Andrew Testa for The New York Times
“I am against Mr. Vucic because of his authoritarian model,” he said. “He is always talking about my big friend Putin, my big friend Orban, my big friend Erdogan. You can judge him by his friends.”
Mr. Vucic has recently floated the idea .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/world/europe/kosovo-partition-aleksandar-vucic.html?module=inline .. of some sort of partition of Kosovo. While he has not publicly offered any details on how that might work, especially given the inherent dangers of redrawing maps in the volatile Balkans, the idea gained momentum last year when John R. Bolton, the Trump administration’s national security adviser, said the United States was open to the idea.
See also:
President Trump Directed His Attorney To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project
Trump received 10 personal updates from Michael Cohen and encouraged a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=146190937
"A New Cold War Has Begun"
President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia welcomed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Belgrade on Thursday. Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
By Marc Santora and Neil MacFarquhar
Jan. 17, 2019
BELGRADE, Serbia — The water in Belgrade’s central fountain was lit Russian red, ceremonial artillery blasts thundered at the palace, and tens of thousands of Serbs were bused in from around the country to welcome President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday.
If the tableau seemed more fitting for the days of kings than a typical state visit, these are no ordinary times for Serbia, which once again finds itself tugged between East and West in ways hauntingly reminiscent of the Cold War.
Then, Yugoslavia, with its capital in Belgrade, managed to stay out of the Soviet bloc, though it was nominally aligned with it. Now, amid resurgent competition for political and economic influence in Europe, especially in the Balkans, that strategy seems suddenly relevant.
With Serbia seeking to join the European Union without damaging its ties with Moscow, this country on the eastern flank of Europe is in play all over again.
[...]
Even before he arrived, Mr. Putin seemed to be everywhere. Billboards on the highway welcomed Serbia’s “dear friend.” His face was plastered on T-shirts, mugs, pins and even underwear. As he toured historic sites with Mr. Vucic by his side, the Russian national anthem rang out time and again.
In recent years, more than 100 pro-Russian media outlets and nongovernmental organizations have taken root in Serbia, according to the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, a Belgrade-based think tank.
Jelena Milic, the head of the think tank, termed Moscow’s varied efforts to exert influence “Putin’s orchestra.”
Her study, “The Russification of Serbia .. https://www.ceas-serbia.org/en/prenosimo/2918-the-russification-of-serbia ,” detailed efforts by Moscow to undermine public support for European integration and to delay rapprochement with the West.
“There is more and more evidence that some members of ‘Putin’s orchestra’ are financed directly from Moscow,” she wrote.
Serbia is a crucial transit point in Russia’s plans to extend its TurkStream pipeline to supply natural gas across southern Europe, a project that has provoked misgivings in the European Union.
Russian investment in Serbia’s economy has already exceeded $4 billion, Mr. Putin told Politika .. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/59680 . It faces stiff competition from China and Turkey among others, however.
To highlight the cultural ties, Mr. Putin visited Belgrade’s newly restored Church of St. Sava, one of the world’s largest Orthodox Christian churches, where Russian businessmen underwrote the cost of the gilded mosaic lining the dome.
[...]
Mr. Jaksic, the political columnist, said Kosovo is at the heart of the balancing act Mr. Vucic is trying to pull off.
“It all starts with the mother of all problems, and that is Kosovo .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/world/europe/kosovo-serbia.html?module=inline ,” he said.
Even if Mr. Vucic managed to achieve lasting peace with Kosovo, Mr. Jaksic said, it might be at the expense of Serbia’s democracy.
The police at Mr. Ivanovic’s offices in Mitrovica, Kosovo, last year. His death is a rallying point for those who say Mr. Vucic has created a
climate of fear. Andrew Testa for The New York Times
“I am against Mr. Vucic because of his authoritarian model,” he said. “He is always talking about my big friend Putin, my big friend Orban, my big friend Erdogan. You can judge him by his friends.”
Mr. Vucic has recently floated the idea .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/world/europe/kosovo-partition-aleksandar-vucic.html?module=inline .. of some sort of partition of Kosovo. While he has not publicly offered any details on how that might work, especially given the inherent dangers of redrawing maps in the volatile Balkans, the idea gained momentum last year when John R. Bolton, the Trump administration’s national security adviser, said the United States was open to the idea.
See also:
President Trump Directed His Attorney To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project
Trump received 10 personal updates from Michael Cohen and encouraged a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=146190937
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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