Vucic: Serbia to Be Exposed to More Pressure than Ever

Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade, July 6 2023 (BETAPHOTO/Amir Hamzagic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Aug. 18 that he expected “probably the worst ever” pressures on Serbia to join international sanctions against Russia, but that he did not expect Serbia to be isolated if it refused.

In an interview with the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation (RTS), Vucic said that “the circle around him in Serbia is closing too” with the idea of forcing Serbia to change its policies. When asked if Serbia could be isolated if it refused to introduce sanctions against Russia, Vucic said that “I have been hearing the same story for the past 10 years now” when it came to Serbia opposing something from the West.

Speaking on the war in Ukraine, the Serbian president said that it was clear that it was very difficult to defeat Russia on the battlefield, but that he did not think that Russia could win the war either. “The expectation was that Ukraine would win easily with the modern Western weapons that it had, but that is not going to happen. Since this is very clear now, it is important to solidify the front against Russia, fill all the holes, and that is why the pressures on Serbia will be the strongest possible,” the president said.

According to Vucic, the West does not care that its cooperation and trade with Russia exceed Serbia’s by far or that the allegations that Serbia has been exporting weapons to Russia are untrue.

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