A double bind: How unrest and geopolitics could end Serbia’s government
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Mass protests are destabilising Aleksandar Vucic’s rule and his “à la carte” foreign policy positioning. As Serbia’s president faces his toughest challenge yet, the EU should seize the moment to support democratic change and regional stability

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This is an opinionated article by Engjellushe Morina, Senior Policy Fellow, and Angelica Vascotto, pan-European Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

This winter has seen Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic skating on dangerously thin ice. Mass student-led anticorruption protests have led to the resignation of the prime minister, Milos Vucevic, as well as several other members of his government. Last week, the president hinted that the turmoil could lead to a snap parliamentary election come spring.

But public anger and Vucic’s collapsing government are far from his only problems. Even before the protests, the president’s longstanding “à la carte” approach to foreign policy of hedging Serbia between the West and Russia (with a side order of China) seemed to be in trouble. Both the European Union and Russia have been pressing Belgrade to choose a side. Now, Vucic has found himself with very little international sympathy for his domestic woes—and very little room for manoeuvre.

This gives Europeans a key opportunity to help steer events towards stability and democratic progress while minimising the risk of regional spillover. To prevent prolonged instability and bring Serbia back on track, the EU should support civil society, address regional tensions, and reinforce Serbia’s European trajectory.

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  • randomnameEnglish
    5·
    6 days ago

    @superkret

    It is China and Russia that are trying to undermine democracies in Serbia, in Europe and elsewhere. @bungalowtill & others are echoing narratives out of Moscow’s and Beijing’s playbook. We have been observing this in Ukraine before the invasion, and we see this today also in Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and many other former Soviet states.

    This is why I agree also with what is said that bungallowtill’s comment is not ‘only’ derailed but also an offence to the Serbian civil society. The EU must support them, not sit and wait.

    @poVoq

    Edit: You may watch this video (2 min) to see what it means when the EU let other nations ‘decide their fate’. This comment is rubbish in this context here.