Political Scientist: Vucic’s Balancing Act Thrown Off

Florian Bieber (Photo: Beta/Milan Obradovic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is under pressure from all sides -- his reputation in Europe has been tarnished, Russia is no longer being accommodating, and China has distanced itself too, the Austrian Der Standard daily said in an article in its Nov. 29 issue, reporting that Florian Bieber, an expert on the Balkans, believes that Vucic's balancing act between the big powers has been seriously thrown off.

"The Serbian regime is under increasing pressure from Russia, the U.S. and the Serbian opposition. In Europe, the decline in his image is substantial," Der Standard said of the problems that Serbia is facing due to U.S. sanctions against NIS, the only oil company in the country, which is Russian-owned.

The article said that the only solution would be for Russia's Gazprom to sell its stake in NIS, but that Moscow was not accommodating Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. "On the contrary, they are making jokes at his expense. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said recently that she wondered if there were just one President Vucic, or if his interviews had come from different people," Der Standard said.

The Austrian daily quoted Zakharova, who said, "We hear certain statements when he is in Moscow, and different ones when he gives them in other places." "They are obviously angry in Moscow because Serbia is sending ammunition to Ukraine," the article said. Bieber, a professor of Southeast European Studies, director of the Center for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz and coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG), told Der Standard that Vucic's room for maneuvering was shrinking and that he had painted himself into a corner.