Lavrov Says EU Pressures Serbia Over Russia Sanctions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UN that the EU is pushing Belgrade toward sanctions on Moscow and violating Resolution 1244 on Kosovo, while Vucic says Serbia has imposed none.
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, used his address at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 26 to name Serbia, Kosovo, and Republika Srpska directly. He laid out Russia’s Balkan policy in sharp terms, accusing the European Union of pushing Belgrade toward sanctions against Moscow while, in his words, brazenly ignoring UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
Lavrov used the general debate to spell out the accusation directly.
“They are literally forcing Belgrade to impose sanctions against Russia, promising in return what everyone by now understands to be nothing more than a phantom prospect of European integration.”
He made the remark during the assembly’s general debate, before turning to Kosovo and Republika Srpska.
What Lavrov Said About Kosovo and Republika Srpska
According to Lavrov, Serbia is being pressured to accept the loss of Kosovo while implementation of Resolution 1244 itself is being brazenly sidestepped. He did not stop at Kosovo, extending the accusation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he said European officials are working to unitarize the state. Serbs in Republika Srpska, he said, are being pushed to give up the constitutional powers guaranteed to them under the Dayton Peace Agreement and by decisions of the UN Security Council.
The domestic backdrop gives Lavrov’s words extra weight. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had confirmed only two days earlier, on September 24, that Serbia had not imposed sanctions on Russia despite pressure from Brussels. The European Parliament, for its part, has already backed a resolution to freeze Serbia’s accession process until Belgrade adopts restrictive measures against Moscow, formally turning the sanctions question into a condition for any further progress in enlargement talks.
Accusations Against the West and Ukraine
The Russian minister did not confine himself to the Balkans. He said the ruling elites of the European Union are afflicted by a “virus of racial superiority” and are confirming the spread of Nazi ideology within their own borders. He accused the West of arming Ukraine and helping Kyiv target civilians and civilian infrastructure with drones and missiles, and charged Europe with deliberately obstructing negotiations to end the war.
On the course of the special military operation itself, Lavrov repeated the position he has stated before.
“Our fight for truth and justice will be carried through to the end. The goals of the special military operation will be achieved.”
He told the General Assembly this from the podium.
He added that, in his words, “dreams of Russia’s strategic defeat will lead the very instigators of the war into a strategic dead end,” an apparent reference to the Western states supplying weapons to Kyiv.
Iran, Venezuela and Seats on the Security Council
Beyond the European and Ukrainian context, Lavrov condemned the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and called the American military intervention in Venezuela unacceptable. He announced that Moscow would continue work on the so-called Eurasian Charter of Multipolarity, a document through which Russia is trying to offer an alternative to the existing order of international relations, and he rejected proposals to give Western countries additional seats on the UN Security Council. Instead, he called for expanding the council’s membership at the expense of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
After his address in the General Assembly hall, Lavrov held a closing press conference on the Russian delegation’s participation in this year’s session. On the sidelines of the gathering, according to Russian media reports, he also met with Vucic and passed on warm words from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Whether Brussels eases its pressure on Belgrade before the next round of enlargement talks, or the frozen accession process stays in place until Serbia imposes sanctions on Russia, is a question Serbian diplomacy will have to answer in the months ahead.
