As Russia intensified its attack on Ukraine this month, a sombre Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic warned his country that it faced a diplomatic storm — caught between Moscow and the west.
“We are in an exceptionally difficult situation, there is less understanding than ever for the position of our nation,” Vucic said in a television address after his government declined to align itself with EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. “We are facing huge pressure.”
Russia’s attack on Ukraine is hastening a moment of reckoning for Serbia, which has strong political, cultural and economic ties with Moscow but is also a candidate country for EU membership and stronger western alignment. As the EU tries to isolate Russia, the Ukraine war has become a test for membership candidates who still have an eye on Moscow, making Serbia’s attempt to please both sides increasingly hard to maintain.