Both developments are seen as a direct challenge to the delicate geopolitical balance in which Serbia’s Vucic has spent more than a decade endorsing Western values and EU policies while also maintaining strong ties with Russia and China.
“We love Moscow and Washington and everyone around the world, but Serbia is the country we love and love the most,” Vučić said. “We will protect Serbia’s interests at all costs. There will be no shortage and there will be no disaster,” he said.
He emphasized that the threat of U.S. sanctions is not specifically aimed at Serbia, but that the outgoing Biden administration is pushing for a “comprehensive attack against Russia, not just on oil and gas production, but on all related companies.”
Serbia has until March 12 to complete a final financial deal with Gazprom and Gazprom Neft and change the ownership structure of NIS, which could allow Hungary’s MOL to jump into buying the Russian stake. Vucic announced that he would speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Vučić faces a domestic crisis, including weeks of nationwide protests – some of the largest in Serbia’s history – sparked by the failed construction of the Novi Sad train and bus station, which left 15 people dead and many injured. I’m struggling with.
“This is a very inopportune moment for Vučić. He is under attack from all sides on the domestic front due to student protests,” said Vuk Vuksanović, an expert on non-Western influences in the Balkans and a senior fellow at the Belgrade centre. “If there are gas supply problems in the middle of the heating season, prices will inevitably increase.”
