There is a long list of those whom Aleksandar Vučić disappointed, failed, and even betrayed with his signature, and especially with his behavior in the first days of September in the White House. He did the exact opposite of what many in the world and in Serbia expected, especially in Kosovo. What a surprise – he did his job the best he could, he took into account the interests of the state of which he is the president. Unfortunately for many, who have ignored this “insignificant” fact.
There was disappointment even before Vučić travelled to Washington, dissatisfied that the meeting even exists. Because two months earlier, at the end of June, they managed to set back the conversation between the leaders from Belgrade and Pristina in the White House, childishly trying to preserve the European Union’s monopoly on the dialogue between Serbs and Albanians. Unsuccessfully. It turned out that at the very beginning of the meeting in Washington, he also disappointed the hosts, demanding that everything that defines Kosovo as an independent state and pushes Serbia into the obligation to recognize that independence be removed from the initial draft of the agreement.
When the members of the Serbian delegation talked about it in real time, Vučić’s online critics in Serbia rushed to “explain” how it was his deception, that in fact there was no fight to cut out independent Kosovo from the agreement. Even Richard Grenell, with a short message on Twitter (“Not true”), tried to refute Vučić and his associates. It will turn out, however, that those controversial sentences, even the famous point 10, were indeed in the first draft of the agreement, but that they were dropped with the intervention of the Serbian president. The media in Pristina especially reported about that, confirming what they have been reporting on for days, that their team was left without the only thing they came to Washington for, and that is the recognition from Serbia.
According to the interpretations of all those who “care” for Serbia, Vučić also betrayed the European Union, not only because he was talking about Kosovo under the mediation of the USA, which should already be a great sin against Europe, but also because he agreed to move the Serbian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and that contradicts European policy in the Middle East. However, just two days later, Vućić spoke in person in Brussels with the most important Europeans, they have made excellent progress in the Kosovo dialogue, and the agreements from Washington were welcomed as an important contribution to the whole process.
They felt especially disappointed and betrayed in Moscow. So much so that they allowed themselves to react vulgarly and rudely, through the bizarre Facebook post of Maria Zakharova. Her banal justification that she was, in fact, targeting Trump, and not Vučić, and that her “trick” was misinterpreted, is just as insulting as the original post in which she compares Vučić and Sharon Stone, in the famous scene from “Basic Instinct”. If Zakharova, as one of the most skilled speakers on the world political scene (as she is advertised in the Kremlin), said that she has been “misinterpreted”, then that insults common sense.
Can we just imagine how Russia and Putin would treat Serbia if lower-ranking Serbian government officials posted inappropriate posts on social media with the symbolism of drinking tea, for example, or with the symbolism of expelling Russia from the G8, or with the symbolism of imposing new sanctions on Russia by the USA, every two months… Nervous Moscow did not want to register that Aleksandar Vučić in Washington, in fact, protected relations with Russia, rejecting the American request for Serbia to buy its liquefied natural gas, thus defending Serbia’s interest in continuing to provide cheaper gas from Russia.
The “concern” for Serbia has gone so far as to fear for its future relations with Iran, for example, because the White House agreement accepts the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. This “concern” comes from more or less the same people who “care” about Serbia when the UN supports Iran, as opposed to Europe and America. Agree on whether we should care about relations with Iran or not. Or, however, is it just a matter of taking into account the interests of Serbia?
They are also “worried” about Serbia’s future relations with the Arab world, which is so important to us because of Kosovo (the same ones who despise the fact that Serbian foreign policy is especially focused on Arab countries). They are worried, again, about the announcement of the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem, with no tectonic change in relations in the Middle East and a great rapprochement between Israel and Arab countries, thanks again to Donald Trump and his administration.
All of them are disappointed and betrayed, because they expected Vučić in Washington to fight for their views and interests, it never occurred to them that he might, after all, represent the interests of Serbia. They remained, in the end, trapped in the story of sitting on a chair in the Oval Office.
That Vučić did the right thing in Washington, representing only the interests of Serbia, was immediately visible, because Donald Trump, EU leaders, Vladimir Putin and Sergey Lavrov, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed respect for his work. World leaders who know very well that respect on the international stage is gained only if you defend the interests of your country. They do it themselves all the time and do not allow themselves to be disappointed, betrayed and insulted.