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Old April 23rd, 2022 #1
Johan
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 4,231
Default Majority of Serbian population against EU integration

23.04.2022 12:03

For the first time in recent years, a majority of Serbian citizens are against EU integration. The reason is the pressure the EU is putting on Belgrade to impose sanctions against Russia.

An IPSOS public opinion poll has shown that almost 44% of citizens are against European integration, about 35% are for it, and the remaining 21% are unaware or unwilling to state their position.

https://en.news-front.info/2022/04/2...u-integration/

Quote:
Serbia and the issue of sanctions

If Serbia imposes sanctions on Russia today due to Western pressure, tomorrow it may impose sanctions on China or a third party. At the end of that road, it could happen that Serbia imposes sanctions on the Republika Srpska as well

No, Serbia should not join the European Union's sanctions against Russia, just as it should not be humiliated by the quiet introduction of sanctions against Belarus. Sanctions are an instrument of war, they are often more destructive than bombs, and Serbia is not at war with Russia, just as it is not at war with Belarus. Serbia is not a member of the European Union, it is not even in its lobby to oblige it to follow the penal policy of that community.

The part of the public that opposes the imposition of sanctions starts from the fact that Russia is a historical ally and a friendly country that is the only protector of Serbia in the UN Security Council. Russia is also an important factor in domestic energy security. There is nothing to complain about this kind of argumentation. She has her own eloquent interpreters and a good part of the public understands this argument well.

A moral question

As important and accurate as this argument may be, it obscures the depth of the problem and the weight of the dilemmas related to sanctions policy. Even in the world of cruel realpolitik trade, the mentioned argumentation is (at least partly unconsciously) unprincipled. Based on such an argument, one could conclude that it would not be too terrible if Serbia joined the sanctions where there is no greater political or economic interest. This probably explains the lukewarm reactions of the public to the sanctions imposed on Belarus. Following such a trade logic, Serbia could impose symbolic sanctions on Iran, Venezuela, Syria or Cuba, if anyone forces it to do so tomorrow.

Sanctions are a brutal, cynical instrument that destroys states, their economies and the lives of their citizens, ostensibly in the name of democracy or humanity. They are always used selectively, heartlessly and ruthlessly, without any justice or principles. If other countries in a humanitarian and, of course, peace-loving enthusiasm can pretend not to understand how sanctions work and what their real goal is, Serbia cannot pretend not to know that.

Let us remind ourselves for a moment of the consequences of sanctions against Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) from the 21s. Sanctions by the Security Council, voted for by poor Yeltsin's Russia, destroyed Serbia's economy and paved the way for a large sale of social wealth in the first decades of the 1999st century. At the same time, sanctions destroyed large parts of the middle class and destroyed the social fabric of society in all its segments. The economic consequences of the sanctions are much more severe even than the economic consequences of the XNUMX bombing.

During the period of sanctions, the gross domestic product of Serbia was halved, not figuratively - literally. Such a drop in GDP does not happen even during wars. The country has recovered relatively quickly from the aftermath of the bombing, but not from the long-term consequences of sanctions. Serbia's GDP per capita is only returning to the level from the beginning of the 30s. Serbia has lost XNUMX years of development and today is one of the poorest countries in Europe, to which sanctions have made a lion's share. (Putting the blame for sanctions on the "Milosevic regime" is a cheap excuse for those souls who flatter left and right either out of stupidity or out of anger.)

Today Russia, tomorrow…

Sanctions on Russia, although very serious, are milder than those imposed on Serbia or those that some smaller countries have gone through or are going through. Due to energy and food self-sufficiency, the position of a key energy supplier to Europe and the fact that most of the world has not joined the Western sanctions, Russia is much more resistant to them. If there are more serious consequences for the economy, it will be primarily due to the mistakes of the Russian ruling elite.

But let's go back to Serbia. If Serbia imposes sanctions on Russia today, due to Western pressure, it may impose sanctions on China or a third party tomorrow. At the end of that road, it could happen that Serbia imposes sanctions on the Republika Srpska as well. Western humanists will not miss the reason or the way to attract Serbia a little stronger, if necessary. (By the way, this would not be the first time that Serbia, under pressure, imposes sanctions on "its own" on the Drina.)

To conclude - the imposition or non-imposition of sanctions on Russia is not a matter of support for Russian policy, nor is it a matter of cheering for the Russian side in the Ukrainian war. The decision on sanctions should be a principled and sovereign decision of Serbia. Serbia should not allow such decisions to be negotiated with anyone. Demands that Serbia throw its small and insignificant stone at Russia are a terrible irony and humiliation, especially since it comes from those who caused great damage to Serbia during the XNUMXs. A state that has gone through the trauma of sanctions the way Serbia went through it, would have to incorporate a provision in its legal acts, including the Constitution, according to which it will never impose sanctions on anyone, regardless of which side the pressure came from.

Source: Politics / nkatic.wordpress.com
Tags: BiH, west, China, Russia, sanctions, Srbiјa


https://srbin.info/en/pocetna/aktuel...anje-sankcija/
 
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