Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attend a welcoming ceremony ahead of their talks in Belgrade on January 17, 2019. AFP / pool / Maxim Shipenkov
Belgrade: Russian President Vladimir Putin called for stability in the Balkans on Thursday during a lavish visit to Serbia, an important ally of Moscow.
Arriving on the red carpet in Belgrade, Putin said he would support efforts to maintain calm in the region a day after accusing the West of destabilizing the Balkans through efforts to strengthen NATO membership.
“Like Serbia, Russia is interested in keeping the situation in the Balkans stable and safe,” Putin told reporters at a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Although Serbia and all of its neighbors are striving to join the European Union, Belgrade maintains close ties with Russia, its historical “Orthodox big brother”, whose inhabitants also have Slavic roots.
Affection for Moscow is fueled by his relentless support on the emotional issue of Kosovo, a former Serbian province that was demolished in a guerrilla war in 1998-99.
Serbia has never accepted the split and Russia also rejects it and is exercising its right of veto at the United Nations to thwart Kosovo’s accession dreams.
Vucic thanked Russia’s support in Kosovo and presented Putin with a Sarplaninac breed puppy, a shepherd dog from the region, during the visit.
Meanwhile, Putin awarded his counterpart a Russian state honor.
The Russian President’s visit was celebrated in the streets by tens of thousands of Serbs who marched through the capital in a parade in support of the two leaders.
“Welcome, dear President Putin, dear friend,” read one of many posters in the city that carried a mixture of Russian and Serbian flags.
The parade culminated in the massive Saint Sava Church, one of the largest houses of worship in Orthodox Christianity, where more than 120,000 people gathered, according to police.
Patriarch Irinej, the leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, greeted Putin as the church bells rang.
Inside the church, the decoration of which is partly financed by Russia, the leaders lit candles and symbolically placed pieces of tiles in a mosaic.
“Thank you for the friendship,” Putin said to the crowd in front of the church in Serbian at the end of his visit.
“Serbia’s Rescue”
In return for Moscow’s support on Kosovo, Belgrade has refused to join the international trade sanctions Russia imposed for annexing Crimea in 2014.
Graffiti is sometimes seen on Serbian streets saying “Kosovo is Serbia, Crimea is Russia”.
Putin’s stopover comes because the longstanding EU-sponsored talks to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo have stalled and seem to be leading nowhere.
During the visit, Vucic said: “Without Russia … it is clear that there will be no solution for Kosovo”.
The USA is the largest donor of Kosovo.
Putin is “Serbia’s salvation,” said retired General Mitar Petkic, who camped for hours in front of the Saint Sava Church to greet the Russian leader.
“The EU will fall apart if we join it will no longer exist,” the 66-year-old told the AFP news agency.
But the warm embrace doesn’t hide Russia’s recent setbacks in the Balkans, where the West has increased its influence.
Moscow could not prevent Montenegro from joining NATO in 2017, a goal Macedonia is also moving towards after ratifying a name change agreement to end a decades-long dispute with Greece.
If Macedonia succeeds, seven countries bordering Serbia that are not seeking membership will be admitted to the NATO sphere. Only neighboring Bosnia will not become a member due to the veto right of the Serbian population.
‘Energy, key area’
The relationship between Serbia and Russia is “more emotional than rational,” said the Serbian economic analyst Biljana Stepanovic.
According to a 2017 survey by the Serbian government, a quarter of the population believes that Russia and the EU are the country’s main joint donors of development aid.
In fact, 75 percent of donations came from the EU or its member states, while Russia did not make the top nine.
The West is also overtaking Russia in terms of direct investment and trade.
However, Moscow has a certain stake in the region.
Serbia imports two thirds of its natural gas and crude oil from Russia, while Russian giant Gazprom owns Serbian oil company NIS.
“Energy is the key area of Russian-Serbian cooperation,” Putin told reporters.
Gazprom planned to increase its gas supplies to the Balkan country by 2020.
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