Paul
Goble
Staunton, November 27 – Vladimir
Putin’s decision to develop ties with radical right nationalist movements in
various countries in the world and exploit them to promote Moscow’s interests is
now a commonplace. But just how dangerous this can be is shown by the links
between Russia and Serbia’s radical nationalists, Kseniya Kirillova says.
These links, she says, have
profoundly negative consequences not only for Serbia’s domestic stability but
also for the stability of the Balkans as a whole, because they give Moscow the
opportunity once again to use others for its purposes who can then be disowned or
sacrificed if that becomes necessary (lb.ua/world/2016/11/25/351724_serbskie_natsionalisti_sluzhbe.html).
Moscow has a long history of
involvement with Serbian nationalists, one going back far beyond the conflicts
of the 1990s. But the current upsurge in its role there began several years ago
when Russians began actively and openly to support Serbian Radical leader Vojislav
Šešelj on his return to Belgrade following 11 years in prison for crimes
against humanity.
Working together, they helped revive
the myth promoted by the late Slobodan Milosevich that Serbs are being
subjected to genocide in Kosovo and that the only possible defense against that
is the establishment of a greater Serbian state at the obvious expense of the
existence of its neighbors.
Serbian political analyst Ventsislav Buyich says that “people connected with the
Kremlin” have promised the Serbian radicals that “the Russians will soon come
to this land, occupy all of Europe and bomb all the enemies of Serbia” and have
brought many of them to Moscow to expand cooperation (ru.krymr.com/a/27967580.html).
According to Buyich, “approximately
20 percent” of Serbians are prepared to accept this point of view, while as
many as “50 to 60 percent” are ready to accept “a softer version” of Russian
propaganda about their situation and how Moscow will help the Serbs defend
their rights and recover what they consider to be rightfully theirs.
The Serbian analyst recently met
with Sergey Lush of the pro-Kremlin Molodaya Rus’ organization in Minsk at
which time the latter “openly declared about his plans for the destabilization
of Serbia” by the creation of “sleeper cells” in all cities of that country
that could be activated at “x hour” (ru.krymr.com/a/28056102.html).
“Unfortunately,” Kirillova
continues, “the Serbian authorities treat the pro-Kremlin nationalists
extremely indulgently,” and many of them maintain pro-Russian positions despite
the threat that the Kremlin-backed Serbian radical nationalists pose to the
stability of their country and to them personally.
But these Serbian radical
nationalists already pose a threat to other countries because they have been “actively
participating in the foreign operations of the Kremlin, including terrorist
acts, wars, and even the seizure of foreign territory,” the US-based Russian
analyst and commentator says.
Alexander Sinjelich, the leader of the
Serbian Wolves organization, has openly acknowledged on a video his group’s
close ties with the Russian defense ministry and their participation in the Russian
occupation of Crimea and further Russian aggression in Ukraine’s Donbass (ru.krymr.com/a/28127851.html and
radiosvoboda.org/a/27141492.html).
The “biggest
scandal” that has arisen as the product of Russian-backed Serbs in the failed
coup attempt in Montenegro, Kirillova says; but no one should think, Buyich
says, that “the aggressive plans of Moscow in the Balkans,” executed with the
help of the Serbian radicals, are at an end because of that failure.
When Russian deputy prime minister
Dmitry Rogozin came to Serbia for a meeting with Šešelj and other Serbian
radicals earlier this year, he told them that “the main priorities for the Kremlin
now are Montenegro and Macedonia” and blocking any moves by them to integrate
further with the West (ru.krymr.com/a/28092716.html).
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