Borko Stefanovic: By Congratulating Putin, Vucic Steers Serbia Away from EU

Borko Stefanovic (BetaPhoto/Milan Obradovic)

Borko Stefanovic, Justice and Freedom Party’s vice-president, said on March 20 that by congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his reelection, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has returned the favor to Putin, who alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was the only official to send congratulations to the Serbian Progressive Party on its victory in the parliamentary elections last December.  

By sending his regards through the Russian ambassador to Serbia, Vucic has sent two messages, Stefanovic added.

“The first message is that [Vucic] does not care that the elections in Russia have been organized in the shadow of Alexei Navalny’s death and the war in Ukraine, and the other is that he finds quite acceptable the persecution and arrest of political rivals, journalists and all those who dare criticize an autocratic rule, something Vucic has been dreaming of and, by the way of violence, has been making it into [Serbia’s] sad reality,” Stefanovic said in his statement.

Thus, Stefanovic added, Vucic has been steering Serbia away from its European future, its only assurance of a normal life, and showing that his envoys, such as Vladimir Djukanovic, had been spending time in Russia to learn how to further render the election process meaningless.

“Those who dream of gulags cannot ensure a good life for their people. The fight for free and fair elections is not only a right but an obligation for everyone who believes they deserve to make independent decisions about their fate and future,” Stefanovic said.