A Serious Challenge for Belgrade

Aleksandar Vucic and Vladimir Putin (Photo: The General Secretariat of the President of the Republic/Dimitrije Goll)

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of two areas in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Lugansk, has put Serbia and its President Aleksandar Vucic in a pretty unenviable position. Vucic is facing pressure from the West to pick a side, i.e. to impose sanctions against Russia, which he certainly will not do but will rather aim to balance between respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and not getting on the wrong side of Moscow, a traditional ally. The stance taken by Vucic’s authorities is accepted by all major opposition parties in the country, too.