TIRANA, June 7, 2022 – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has lashed out at NATO and regional members for denying him the ability to visit Belgrade last Sunday, which he said he aimed to use to express Moscow’s support for Serbia and what he said was a Belgrade-led initiative — Open Balkan.
“It seems that the puppet masters in Brussels did not want in any way to give us a platform where we would confirm in the capital of Serbia Russia’s position on the problem of Kosovo and the problem of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Lavrov said at a press conference. “They did not want us to express support for Belgrade’s initiative to implement the Open Balkan project in the interest of a stronger and healthier relationship between the countries of the region.”
He added NATO and EU want to “turn the Balkans into a project called the ‘Closed Balkans.’”
The comments quickly added fuel to people in the region who have opposed the Open Balkan initiative since its inception due to it not being all inclusive, with only Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia participating. At an upcoming Open Balkan meeting this week in Ohrid — Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina are expected to send representatives for the first time, leaving Kosovo isolated, further angering Albanian critics of the initiative.
Internationally, however, Moscow’s meddling makes it clear NATO and EU lukewarm support for the initiative could soon turn cold and that the fears about Russia-friendly Serbia’s regional domination of the region are valid, according to Edward P. Joseph, one of the leading American experts on the region and a professor at John Hopkins.
“Kudos to Sergey Lavrov for giving the kiss of death today to the Open Balkan [initiative]. This Trump Administration brainchild advances the agenda of Russia’s strategic partner in the region, Serbia,” he wrote on Twitter. “Open Balkan is an open invitation for [Serb President Aleksandar] Vucic to exploit Serbia’s economic size for political advantage – free from political constraints or values of the European Union. Open Balkan = ‘Serb World’ via the marketplace for Serbia’s smaller neighbors.”
Open Balkan has met resistance since its inception, but has been propelled forward by Vucic and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama as a way to increase cooperation. Rama has repeatedly asked Kosovo to join, amid anger and dismay from Prishtina, where they see the initiative as outside the EU integration process and undermining the country’s sovereignty. Albania’s opposition has also been vehemently against the Open Balkan initiative since its inception.
Lavrov’s planned visit to Serbia on Sunday was canceled after countries around Serbia closed their airspace to his aircraft, a senior foreign ministry source told the Interfax news agency on Sunday.
“Our diplomacy has yet to master teleportation,” the source said.
Serbia, which has close cultural ties with Russia, has fended off pressure to take sides over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart, Vucic, agreed last month that Russia would continue supplying natural gas to Serbia, while other countries have been cut off for refusing to pay for Russian gas in rubles.
Vucic has refused to explicitly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and his country has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow. Vucic claims he wants to take Serbia into the European Union but has spent recent years cementing ties with Russia, a longtime ally.
The gas deal was likely to be signed during Lavrov’s now canceled visit — which would have been a rare visit by a ranking Russian official to a European country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began Feb. 24.
Vucic said he told Putin that he wished “peace would be established as soon as possible.”
