Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock finds clear words at the meeting with Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. Those who share European values should not stand on the sidelines.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to clearly show his colors in view of President Vladimir Putin’s Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
“At stake in Ukraine is nothing less than our common European values of peace, freedom, democracy and prosperity,” said the Green politician on Friday after talks with Vucic in Belgrade. “Anyone who shares these values cannot stand on the sidelines now.” The EU accession that Serbia is aiming for includes “the willingness to support the EU’s common foreign policy”.
Vucic had traditionally maintained good relations with Russia in the past. Serbia recently voted in an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to condemn Russia’s war of aggression. However, Vucic does not want to follow the EU sanctions against Russia. Serbia has been conducting accession negotiations with the EU since 2014.
Serbia rejects sanctions question
Like Germany, “Serbia has always attached importance to the fact that a clear EU course and close cultural and social proximity to Russia are not a contradiction,” said Baerbock. “But that’s why clear words and deeds are now required from us, from our two countries, in view of this breach of international law.” Visible progress is now needed to normalize Serbian relations with Kosovo towards a binding agreement. Serbia has not yet recognized Kosovo as an independent state.
Baerbock called Serbian activities against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina unacceptable. “They threaten stability in the entire region,” she warned.
Vucic reacted defensively to a journalist’s question as to why Serbia did not understand the EU sanctions against Russia. “Serbia has in no way done anything that would have hurt Ukraine,” he said. With a view to a possible distancing from Putin, he added: “I don’t know what we should distance ourselves from.” He added: “This is not about people.” He has had no contact with Russian officials since the beginning of the conflict.
Baerbock in the divided city of Mitrovica
In the morning Baerbock had traveled to the city of Mitrovica in Kosovo, which was divided between Serbs and Albanians. On the Ibar Bridge she is doing what she tried the day before in Bosnia-Herzegovina: she is bringing hostile ethnic camps together. The bridge lies between the Serbian-dominated northern part and the southern part of the city, which is inhabited mostly by Albanians. There is always tension. Baerbock meets with the mayors of both districts and representatives of two non-governmental organizations.
All sides report problems – such as the fact that university degrees from the Serbian-dominated part of the city are not recognized. The minister often does it this way: bring them together, listen, let them talk. And try to encourage dialogue. The group talked to Baerbock until she pushed to the end: In a few minutes she had to call “her chancellor” Olaf Scholz (SPD).
Diplomat Baerbock: The way you work is also clear in Sarajevo
It was already similar on Thursday in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Sarajevo’s old town, she meets the city’s mayor – and her colleagues from Banja Luka and Mostar. Contacts between the three are usually difficult – but when walking with the minister from Germany, they strike up a conversation. Baerbock also pays close attention to the religious sentiments in the city – visiting the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, the Main Mosque, the Old Synagogue and the Catholic Cathedral in turn.
Green Baerbock inaugurates green wind farm project
At the end of her visit, Baerbock inaugurated a wind farm in Kosovo that was built with German support. At almost 170 million euros, the plant, which consists of 27 turbines, is the largest foreign investment since Kosovo’s independence in 2008. The wind farm was created on the initiative of a German project developer in cooperation with two Kosovar businessmen and is intended to supply up to 100,000 households with electricity.
Source: Stern
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