Analyst: Not True That West Is Blind to Serbian President’s Policies

Dusan Reljic (Beta/Milos Miskov)

The frequent argument that Germany, France, and Brussels bureaucrats are turning a blind eye to the policies of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is absolutely false, as they very actively support him and other enemies of democracy in the Western Balkans, political analyst Dusan Reljic said on Jan. 10.

In an op-ed for the Berlin-based table.media portal, Reljic stated that the accusation that the West was employing the "three wise monkeys" tactic—hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil—towards Vucic was incorrect.

"The understanding from the West that regional autocrats are getting is only partially linked to the widely accepted narrative that China, Russia, Turkey, and Persian Gulf states are making geopolitical advances in this 'soft underbelly' of Europe, necessitating Western European democracies to protect it," the author wrote. The West's leniency is rooted in very concrete financial interests, Reljic warned.

In the past decade alone, Western countries have reported a trade surplus in their exchange with the struggling economies of the Western Balkans. Individual deals, such as the sale of French Rafale fighter jets, are yet to be explained, as France has sold them not only to Serbia but also to Croatia, Greece, and other countries in the broader region. Serbia's lithium reserves, which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is reportedly interested in exploiting for Europe's strategic autonomy, are also cited as an argument.