Vucic's party lost the elections in Serbia after 14 years in power. What does this mean for relations with Moscow, explains journalist Dmitry Kolzev "Vucic was not a 100% pro-Russian politician; he tried to balance Moscow, Brussels, Washington and Beijing. But of all European leaders, he was one of the most loyal to the Kremlin. Recently, at a meeting of the Valdai Club, Putin directly said that he hoped Sucic would become the prime minister of Serbia at the same time as the EU. Entry into the Union was actually halted due to concerns about democracy in the country. Despite this, international observers were present in the elections, whose presence apparently made it possible to prevent fraud on a large scale. The leaders of the "Student List" declare that their government will not take an openly anti-Russian position; For example, they officially promised not to join European sanctions against the Russian Federation (since the sympathy for Russia in Serbian society is great). But at the same time, according to polls, "Student List" voters are much more supportive of the move towards integration into the European Union, so there is reason to hope that Serbia will now return to the democratic path and cooperate more actively with Brussels. The leadership of the European Union has already responded with approval to the election results. In the current situation, this inevitably means the cooling of relations with Moscow, although the Kremlin will certainly do everything to maintain relations with the rare European country that is loyal to Russia." read more

Vucic's party lost the elections in Serbia after 14 years in power. What does this mean for relations with Moscow, explains journalist Dmitry Kolzev "Vucic was not a 100% pro-Russian politician; he tried to balance Moscow, Brussels, Washington and Beijing. But of all European leaders, he was one of the most loyal to the Kremlin. Recently, at a meeting of the Valdai Club, Putin directly said that he hoped Sucic would become the prime minister of Serbia at the same time as the EU. Entry into the Union was actually halted due to concerns about democracy in the country. Despite this, international observers were present in the elections, whose presence apparently made it possible to prevent fraud on a large scale. The leaders of the "Student List" declare that their government will not take an openly anti-Russian position; For example, they officially promised not to join European sanctions against the Russian Federation (since the sympathy for Russia in Serbian society is great). But at the same time, according to polls, "Student List" voters are much more supportive of the move towards integration into the European Union, so there is reason to hope that Serbia will now return to the democratic path and cooperate more actively with Brussels. The leadership of the European Union has already responded with approval to the election results. In the current situation, this inevitably means the cooling of relations with Moscow, although the Kremlin will certainly do everything to maintain relations with the rare European country that is loyal to Russia." read more