West gains advantage as it vies with Russia for influence in Serbia

Reuters ^ | March 1, 2023 | Aleksandar Vasovic

[Timber Rattler]

A tentative, EU-brokered deal between Serbia and Kosovo this week to normalise relations marks a quiet victory for the West as it vies with Russia for influence in Belgrade.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago, pro-Moscow sentiment has spilled into Serbia's streets. T-shirts with the letter Z, a symbol of Russia's campaign, are sold as souvenirs while far-right groups openly tout support for Russia.

President Aleksandar Vucic, trying to pull off a tricky balancing act between Serbia's deep cultural and religious ties with Russia on the one hand and European Union ambitions and a NATO partnership on the other, has done little to counter the agitation out of fear of losing popular support.

But beyond the pro-Russian noise, the West is making low-key strides toward expanding trade ties with Serbia, reducing its reliance on Russian energy and defusing tensions with Kosovo, its former, mainly ethnic Albanian southern province.

[Timber Rattler]

It seems that Putin's other gambit to stir up trouble in the Balkans has failed too.

[ClearCase_guy]

It’s all fun and games until the Archduke gets shot.

[Jan_Sobieski]

Do you think the Serbian Christians remember getting bombed in order to protect Osama Bin Laden?

[fireman15]

We currently have idiots in charge of our foreign policy and this includes EU policy makers. Anyone expecting them to negotiate anything that will work out well long term are going to be disappointed. For the most part the woke idiots on "our side" do not have a clue how the game is even played. Unfortunately, this includes the cadre of couch potato warriors we have here.

[Texas Fossil]

Leftist Reuters says:

are sold as souvenirs while far-right groups openly tout support for Russia

Reuter's is just like the AP = Always Propaganda

[Kazan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSMG_4WYnO4

Mar 1, 2023

Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for March 1, 2023:

- Russian forces continue the encirclement of Bakhmut in the Donbass region;
- Even the Western media is reporting how bleak the situation is for Ukraine in the Donbass region;
- A recent interview with senior US State Department and Department of Defense officials reveals dangerous delusion at the highest levels of US policy making;
- US officials are repeating common myths even the Western media itself has dispelled in recent months including the supposed "success" of Western sanctions and the sustainability of Western military aid to Ukraine;
- Ultimately, US officials admit more or less that Ukraine cannot win, and that US support is about giving Ukraine the best bargaining position when negotiations begin;

[Timber Rattler]

Am I supposed to be impressed by that drivel?

[mewzilla]

Update...

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