Novi Sad, Serbia (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC)
A legal professional and journalist from Ukraine, Irina Sejdhanova, has said she sees a great danger to Serbia due to Russian propaganda, adding she has been telling friends about this since 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea.
“I see a great danger, because I see a parallel between how Russia was approaching Ukraine, and how it is now trying to approach Serbia. Those are the same thesis which Russia applied on us, trying to plant into our minds that we are “brotherly nations,” and that they are there to protect us and to protect our interests, and that they have the role of a ‘big brother.’ I am seeing the same scenario now also in Serbia,” Sejdhanova told the Vojvodina portal Autonomija.
According to her, a majority of Serbs do not take it seriously, because “they, for some reason, love Russia very much. “The Ukrainians are not the only ones who have experiences that ‘brotherly love.’ There are also examples of Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland, which makes it nearly half of Europe which is saying and triggering an alarm – ‘watch out, watch out!’ But, unfortunately, the influence of Russian propaganda in Serbia is great and for now, the Serbs are not seeing the danger posed by such strong Russian presence in the Balkans,” Sejdhanova stressed.
“Serbia has ideally positioned itself to be an apple of discord in Europe, because of its good geographical position. It is very important for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his regime to have instability in central Europe in any way,” said the journalist who used to live in Mariupol, the city destroyed in Russian aggression on Ukraine.
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