Documents allegedly obtained by the Russian intelligence services in late July flooded the Serbian pro-government media, accusing the former Serbian President Boris Tadic and the former Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic of high treason. The documents, first published by the Serbian Telegraph, refer to a visit by Jeremic to Russia in October 2005. According to what the Telegraph published as a translation of the documents, Jeremic on behalf of Tadic is urging Russia not to veto the United Nations decisions that lead to Kosovo’s independence.
A piece of paper presented as an official document
The first thing to notice when you look at the photo from the document published in the Serbian media is that, apart from it being written in Russian, there is no protocol stamp confirming the document’s authenticity or origin. Everything is reduced to a single piece of paper, and the editorial board has not even tried to prove its authenticity. So far, not even the Russian Embassy in Belgrade has spoken about this.
“Ace” for the Serbian nationalists
The Telegraph’s announcement was fully politically abused by our northern neighbor. The current Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has asked the prosecution to prosecute Tadic and Jeremic for high treason. It is all based on an unofficial document that is said to have been released by the Russian intelligence services. Just so to give an idea about the context of the situation, Dacic comes from Slobodan Milosevic’s party, indicted by The Hague for war crimes. Tadic and Jeremic, on the other hand, were fierce opponents of Milosevic’s politics.
Jeremic’s reaction
After this harangue of the pro-government media and government officials, followed Jeremic’s brief reaction on Twitter. He dismissed the document as a lie, and announced a lawsuit against the Serbian Telegraph.
Russia’s double standards in the Balkans
Lately, Russia has accused on several occasions the West of interfering in the internal politics of the Balkan countries, especially North Macedonia. Russia’s foreign ministry has reacted harshly during the referendum on the name, accusing the West of political propaganda and rude interference in North Macedonia’s internal affairs. But the recent developments with the Russian documents in Serbia raise serious dilemmas about who is really interfering in the Balkans. The Russian authorities own an explanation whether the document published by the Serbian media is authentic and whether it originates from the Russian intelligence service. If the document is authentic, how did it get to the Serbian media, and if it’s not authentic, why are they allowed to use the Russian service for political squabbling in Serbia. However, with their silence, the Russian authorities are only helping in the political campaign against the pro-European politicians in the Balkans. What is that, if not a rude interference in the internal affairs of the countries from this region?
FINANCED BY
This project was funded in part through a U.S. Embassy grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the implementers/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.
PARTNERS
