DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

The Lead Story
“The Ko so vo Ti cket”
The Influ e nce of Ru ssi a
on Eve nts in Se rbia
Pi še: Žarko Petrović
Even tho ugh Se rbia tu rned its
fo re ign po li cy co urse to wa rds
the di re cti on of the
Eu ro-Atla ntic co mmu ni ty in
la te 2009 wi th an appli ca ti on
for Eu ro pe an Uni on
me mbe rship, Ru ssi a’s
influ ence in Se rbia
re ma ined inta ct.
The author is the director of the
International Security Affairs
Center – ISAC fund.
The publication of this paper was in
part made possible by the support from
the OSI Think Tank Fund, Budapest.
Se rbi a’s po li ti cal mo ves for the ’pre se rva ti on’ of Ko so vo,
which, to a la rge exte nt, ha ve re li ed on Ru ssi an su ppo rt, ha -
ve re su lted in the incre ase in Ru ssi a’s influ ence over Se rbia.
Two ye ars after it was la be led „one of the pi lla rs of Se rbi an
foreign policy“ 1 Russia today influences the identification of
Serbia’s priorities, as well as the general situation in the country.
The politics aimed at establishing firmer bonds with
Ru ssia in order to assu re its su ppo rt in the pre ve nti on of Ko -
sovo ’s formal recognition, have in fact prevented the conserva
ti ve and na ti ona li stic fo rces in the co untry to use Ru ssia
as an alte rna ti ve to the EU and the re by ha lt Se rbi a’s inte -
gration into the EU. In building strong relations with Russia,
the pro-We ste rn fo rces in Se rbia ma na ged to draw clo ser and
temporarily bind Russia’s official politics to the pro-Western
opti on in Se rbia. In spi te of this, in re fu si ng to re ali sti ca lly
analyze Russia and its interests and priorities in international
relations and insisting on the short-term benefits this alliance
offe rs, Se rbia has put itse lf in a po si ti on whe re Ru ssia can
influence public opinion, and even the identification of Serbia’s
priorities in foreign politics. This is best reflected in the
issue of Serbia’s membership in NATO: using the „Kosovo ticket“,
Ru ssia is tryi ng to pre ve nt the NA TO entry of a co -
untry with which is it building special ’strategic’ relations.
* * *
Si nce 2001, Se rbi a’s fo re ign po li cy has be en fo cu sed
on Eu ro pe an inte gra ti on and re gi onal co ope ra ti on,
whi le it has be en tryi ng to ma inta in „ba la nced po li ti -
cs“ wi th Ru ssia. 2 Si nce 2005, i.e. si nce the mo me nt it
be ca me cle ar that the issue of the sta tus of Ko so vo was
so on to be so lved in a way which wo uld da ma ge the
te rri to ri al inte gri ty of Se rbia, Se rbi an offi ci als ha ve put
all the ir effo rt into stre ngthe ni ng the sha ky re la ti ons
wi th Ru ssia. From that mo me nt on, Ru ssia has be en
pe rce ived in Se rbia as a co untry which co uld gre atly
co ntri bu te to Se rbi a’s effo rts to pre ve nt Ko so vo ’s inde -
pe nde nce. This has re su lted in an incre ase in Se rb effo -
rts to stre ngthen re la ti ons wi th Ru ssia.
After Ko so vo de cla red inde pe nde nce on Fe bru ary 17,
2008, Se rbia sta rted lo oki ng for the be st way to re act
to its re co gni ti on by mo st co untri es in Tra ns-Atla ntic
co mmu ni ty. The go ve rnme nt, esta bli shed in Ju ly 2008
33