Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated on September 27 that meetings with Western representatives had been particularly difficult for him, and interactions with the Russian side were complicated by U.S. sanctions imposed on Serbia’s “Oil Industry of Serbia” (NIS).
During a period spanning nearly four and a half years, Vucic described almost every European engagement as torture. He noted that at each meeting, the initial question was consistently: “Why didn’t you impose sanctions against Russia?” everywhere.
The former president added that relations with Moscow were further strained because Russian authorities sought to maintain control over NIS at all costs while other nations aimed to shift influence away from them.
Vucic clarified that these tensions ultimately reflected in Serbia, stating the country has always faced significant challenges and warned that the coming period would likely be no less difficult.
On September 26, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated that Western countries were pressuring Belgrade to impose sanctions against Moscow in exchange for potential European Union accession. Lavrov also reported that Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are attempting to persuade local authorities to renounce their constitutional powers.
