Valdai Club

On June 27, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the political situation in Serbia and the prospects for bilateral relations with Russia.

Commenting on the situation in Serbia back in May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that “a big explosion is brewing in the centre of Europe.” At the same time, judging by the statements of representatives of the EU and the US, this time they lay the responsibility for the escalation, to a certain extent, on the authorities of the so-called Republic of Kosovo (unrecognized by Russia), and not only on the Serbian community or Belgrade.

President Vučić has repeatedly spoken publicly about the heavy pressure on Serbia from the EU and the US to change its approach towards Russia. Although the Serbian authorities are making efforts to resist the pressure, the Serbian leader noted that the country “will follow the European path while maintaining friendly relations with other states.” In this regard, experts are concerned about whether Belgrade has to reconsider relations with Moscow and how long the country will be able to resist the influence of the West.

What are the political alignments inside Serbia at this stage? How can the attitude towards Russia in Serbia change if opposition forces win the elections? What are the dynamics of the further development of the conflict in Kosovo? Participants of the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

Speakers:

• Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Serbia
• Aleksandar Raković, Chief Researcher, Institute of Contemporary History of Serbia
• Milana Živanović, researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History of Serbia
• Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Policy Foundation

Moderator:

• Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.