The movement that emerged from two years of student protests won the elections without a conventional party structure, without a clearly identifiable leader and, for much of the campaign, without revealing who would actually run the country if it won. That ambiguity was one of its greatest political strengths. Now, however, the same ambiguity may become a problem.
One of the things that the region, Brussels, Moscow and China will be watching is how the new government positions itself. But there are already fairly clear signals from the leaders of the Students’ List. One of the clearest positions to emerge so far concerns Russia.
Jovo Bakić, sociologist and one of the most prominent figures on the Student List, has explicitly said that a new government would not impose sanctions on Moscow. He described Russia as a historically important partner for Serbia, arguing that sanctions imposed by a small country such as Serbia would have little practical effect while carrying considerable symbolic consequences. Academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and professor at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Chemistry, Radomir Saičić, told RIA Novosti that the Students’ List does not plan to impose sanctions on Russia.
He noted that Serbia itself had been subjected to sanctions and argued that such measures do not solve problems. Dejan Šoškić, a candidate on the “Students Win” list, and posible new prime minister said that Serbia must develop good-neighbourly relations with Croatia, while noting that there would probably continue to be significant differences in the general perception of what happened in the 1990s, and that the Students’ List does not concern itself with that issue. In an interview with Index.hr, Šoškić announced better relations with Croatia and the European Union, while he did not answer a question about the new government’s position towards Russia.
The legal framework in Serbia is therefore quite clear, because the Constitution states that Kosovo and Metohija is an autonomous province of Serbia. On the other hand, key documents of the international legal framework, such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, also affirm this,” Šoškić said. As for the European Union, Šoškić was less definitive.
Whether it will join the European Union at some point after fulfilling all the conditions will depend, among other things, on whether the European Union offers Serbia full membership, as well as on whether, in a referendum at the end of that process, the citizens of Serbia decide in favour of that option,” Šoškić added. It is already clear that when it comes to Serbia’s relations with Russia, the new government, just like the previous one, has no intention of aligning itself with Brussels’ policy. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos spoke with Ilija Srdanović, the lead candidate of the Students’ List, and immediately stressed that a change of government in Belgrade does not remove the obligation to align with the EU’s foreign and security policy.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
