Sie möchten euch von Russland wegbrechen

They want break away you from Russia

Over the past few months, representatives of the European Union and the German Federal Government have repeatedly asserted that the Republic of Serbia must impose sanctions against Russia, claiming that Serbia has a legal obligation to do so as a candidate for accession to the EU. The EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, said this to the Belgrade newspaper "Novosti", for example. Yet, as the German government has now been forced to admit in response to questions, Serbia is not, in actual fact, under any obligation to do so.

Serbia’s relations with Russia are good and Serbia is an important partner for Moscow in the Balkans. There are many reasons for this partnership – one of which is the Kosovo issue. Unlike many EU and Nato countries, the Russian Federation has still not recognised the illegal secession of Kosovo and Metohija. Moscow and Belgrade are insisting that international law be respected – and they have every reason for this.

Through its association with the Collective Security Treaty Organisation last year, Belgrade has shown that there are alternatives to Nato membership, which has often been used as a ticket for fast-track entry to the EU.

The Serbian government, like all others, is bound by international treaties. Were Serbia to now terminate its economic agreements and previous positive cooperation with Russia, this would amount to Serbia breaking off international cooperation based on trust. Yet the aim of closer ties to the EU must not be to turn Serbia into a vassal state of the European Union. Serbia needs economic cooperation with Russia and it needs cooperation with the EU. Both sides offer investment capital and export markets. Russia provides Serbia’s fourth-largest export market and is also its third-largest import partner. In view of these economic realities, calling for a break in the ties between these two countries is tantamount to economic suicide for Serbia.

Just as it did on the Kosovo issue, the German government will increase the pressure on Serbia further. The aim is to remove Serbia – like Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia – from Russia’s economic and political sphere of influence. I can only warn against such a policy of escalation, as is being pursued by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and her foreign minister, Mr Steinmeier. Anybody who believes that Russia – Europe’s largest country in terms of area and one of the continent’s five biggest economies – can be forced out of large swathes of Europe will only fuel further conflicts.

The intention is to force Serbia in advance of possible EU accession to submit unconditionally to the European Union’s policy of sanctions against Russia. Like recognition by Serbia of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, submission to this disastrous anti-Russian policy appears to be merely a further hurdle for Belgrade to clear before joining the EU. Even if Serbia were to meet these conditions, it would not receive any guarantee of accession. I find this great-power politics by the Berlin government unbelievable.

It is also unclear what economic perspective Serbia has within the EU. The collapse of the Croatian shipbuilding industry since accession to the European Union last year demonstrates that joining the EU can often trigger a process of deindustrialisation. The worst example of such prospects is Greece, which has reverted to the level of an emerging economy, with its welfare state in collapse as a result of the drastic austerity measures supported by the European Commission.

The Ukraine situation, where the German government played a major role in escalation, also had its roots in the all-or-nothing policy pursued vis-à-vis Kiev. The states outside the EU were given the choice: bow to the Berlin diktat or expect to face the consequences. And it was the people in the Donbass who paid the price – in the form of a brutal civil war. Yet the government in Berlin and the Commission in Brussels must recognise that there has to be an alternative path. States like Georgia, Moldova and particularly Serbia can act as intermediaries between East and West. It must be possible to trade equally with both sides and for investment capital to flow equally from the EU and Russia.

The Serbian government and people should decide on their own – not the bureaucrats in Brussels and the German government.

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Žele da vas otrgnu od Rusije

Tokom proteklih nekoliko meseci, predstavnici Evropske unije i nemačke Savezne vlade su u više navrata naglašavali da Srbija mora da uvede sankcije Rusije

TOKOM proteklih nekoliko meseci, predstavnici Evropske unije i nemačke Savezne vlade su u više navrata naglašavali da Srbija mora da uvede sankcije Rusije, tvrdeći da je to zakonska obaveza vaše zemlje kao kandidata za ulazak u EU. Komesar EU za susedsku politiku i pregovore o proširenju Johanes Han, rekao je to upravo za „Novosti", na primer. Ipak, kako je nemačka vlada sada prisiljena da prizna, Srbija u stvari, nema obavezu da to učini.

Srpski odnosi sa Rusijom su dobri i Srbija je važan partner za Moskvu na Balkanu. Postoji mnogo razloga za ovo partnerstvo – a jedan je pitanje Kosova. Za razliku od mnogih zemalja EU i NATO, Ruska Federacija još nije priznala nelegalno otcepljenje Kosova i Metohije. Moskva i Beograd insistiraju da se međunarodno pravo poštuje – i imaju sve razloge za to.

Priključivanjem Organizaciji za kolektivnu bezbednost i saradnju prošle godine, Beograd je pokazao da postoje alternative članstvu u NATO, koje se često koristi kao karta za brži ulazak u EU.

Vladu Srbije, kao i sve ostale, obavezuju međunarodni ugovori. Kada bi Srbija sada poništila ekonomske sporazume i prekinula prethodnu pozitivnu saradnju sa Rusijom, to bi ugrozilo i međunarodnu saradnju Srbije sa drugima, koja se bazira na poverenju.

Ipak, cilj bližih veza sa EU ne sme biti da se Srbija pretvori u vazalnu državu Unije. Srbiji je potrebna ekonomska saradnja sa Rusijom, kao i sa EU. Obe strane nude investicioni kapital i izvozna tržišta. Rusija je za Srbiju četvrto po veličini izvozno tržište, kao i treći po veličini uvozni partner. S obzirom na ove ekonomske realnosti, pozivajući na prekid u vezama između ove dve zemlje je ravno ekonomskom samoubistvu Srbije.

Kao i po pitanju Kosova, nemačka vlada će dodatno povećati pritisak na Srbiju. Cilj je da se Srbija – kao i Ukrajina, Moldavija i Gruzija – skloni iz ekonomske i političke sfere ruskog uticaja. Mogu samo da upozoravam protiv takve politike eskalacije, koju nastavljaju savezni kancelar Angela Merkel i njen šef diplomatije, gospodin Štajnmajer. Svako ko smatra da Rusija – najveća zemlja Evrope u smislu veličine i činjenice da je među prvih pet ekonomija na kontinentu – može biti izgurana iz velikog dela Evrope samo će doliti ulje na vatru novih konflikata.

Namera je da se Srbija primora da zbog mogućeg ulaska u EU bezuslovno sledi politiku Unije kada je reč o sankcijama Rusiji. Kao i priznavanje jednostrano proglašene nezavisnosti Kosova, priključivanje ovoj katastrofalnoj antiruskoj politici postavlja se kao dodatna prepreka za Beograd za ulazak u EU. Čak i kad bi Srbija ispunila ove uslove, ne bi dobila nikakvu garanciju da će biti primljena u EU. Za mene je ova politika sile berlinske vlade neverovatna.

Takođe je nejasno kakvu ekonomsku perspektivu Srbija ima unutar EU. Kolaps hrvatske brodogradnje koji se desio posle njihovog pristupanja EU, pokazuje da članstvo može često da pokrene proces deindustrijalizacije. Najgori primer za to je Grčka, koja se vratila na nivo ekonomije u nastajanju, zbog drastičnih mera štednje koje podržava Evropska komisija.

Događaji u Ukrajini, gde je nemačka vlada odigrala glavnu ulogu u eskalaciji situacije, takođe je imala svoje korene politici „sve ili ništa" koja je primenjivana prema Kijevu.

Državama izvan EU data je mogućnost izbora: poklonite se diktatu Berlina ili očekujte da se suočite sa posledicama. A ljudi u Danbasu su platili cenu – u obliku brutalnog građanskog rata.

Ipak, vlada u Berlinu i EK u Briselu moraju da shvate da mora da postoji alternativni put. Države, poput Gruzije, Moldavije i Srbije, posebno mogu delovati kao posrednici između Istoka i Zapada. Mora biti moguće da se podjednako trguje sa obe strane i da investicioni kapital podjednako teče iz EU i Rusije.

Srpska vlada i građani treba sami da donose odluke – a ne da to čine birokrate u Briselu i nemačka vlada.