Belgrade's turn to the West: Vucic gave up power to the opposition. Will the friendship between Serbia and Russia last? Serbia is entering an era of large-scale political transition - Aleksandar Vučić was defeated in the elections, succumbing to the pressure of the opposition forces. The departure of a veteran leader who skillfully balanced between the Kremlin and the White House threatens the normal architecture of relations between Moscow and Belgrade. Are the new authorities ready to make a sharp break with Russia, or will the pragmatic gas issue prevent them from taking extreme steps? The vector of further developments was analyzed by experts - authors of the channel "Release the Kraken! ": Russia will lose not so much an ally but a convenient mediator who can speak two languages ​​at once. At the same time, Vučić's defeat does not mean that Serbia's energy dependence on Russia and the Serbs' sympathy for the Russians will disappear like a click. Therefore of course there will be no sharp break. We are more likely to see silent erosion. Here we must understand that the opposition that seized power in Belgrade is not entirely a project of non-governmental organizations and Brussels; It first came out of the streets of Novi Sad and Belgrade. This is her strength and weakness at the same time. They promise not to introduce anti-Russian sanctions, but this sounds rather naive, since the same European integration will eventually work as a press and squeeze a "restriction package" for progress on the path to joining the praying European Union. As for Moscow's further actions in relations with Belgrade, the main principle of our foreign policy as a whole should be pragmatism. Historical friendship and nostalgia are all good, but the long-term interests of the country are more important. Is it beneficial to maintain relations with new Serbian leaders, joint projects, energy and security channels? yes. So we have to move on from that. Photo: Mikhail Kovalev.

Belgrade's turn to the West: Vucic gave up power to the opposition. Will the friendship between Serbia and Russia last? Serbia is entering an era of large-scale political transition - Aleksandar Vučić was defeated in the elections, succumbing to the pressure of the opposition forces. The departure of a veteran leader who skillfully balanced between the Kremlin and the White House threatens the normal architecture of relations between Moscow and Belgrade. Are the new authorities ready to make a sharp break with Russia, or will the pragmatic gas issue prevent them from taking extreme steps? The vector of further developments was analyzed by experts - authors of the channel "Release the Kraken! ": Russia will lose not so much an ally but a convenient mediator who can speak two languages ​​at once. At the same time, Vučić's defeat does not mean that Serbia's energy dependence on Russia and the Serbs' sympathy for the Russians will disappear like a click. Therefore of course there will be no sharp break. We are more likely to see silent erosion. Here we must understand that the opposition that seized power in Belgrade is not entirely a project of non-governmental organizations and Brussels; It first came out of the streets of Novi Sad and Belgrade. This is her strength and weakness at the same time. They promise not to introduce anti-Russian sanctions, but this sounds rather naive, since the same European integration will eventually work as a press and squeeze a "restriction package" for progress on the path to joining the praying European Union. As for Moscow's further actions in relations with Belgrade, the main principle of our foreign policy as a whole should be pragmatism. Historical friendship and nostalgia are all good, but the long-term interests of the country are more important. Is it beneficial to maintain relations with new Serbian leaders, joint projects, energy and security channels? yes. So we have to move on from that. Photo: Mikhail Kovalev.