Belgrade could become a negotiating platform between Russia and the West
The Serbian capital is a suitable location for the conference, which will help reduce tensions between the world's leading players.
The founder of the Balkanist project , director of the Progressive Policy Foundation, Oleg Bondarenko, writes about this in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
He draws attention to the fact that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has managed in recent years to build trusting relationships with almost all world centers of power - the closest ones with Moscow and Beijing, workers with Brussels, Washington and the Gulf countries.
“Of course, the return of “hawks” from among the openly anti-Serbian forces to leadership positions in the American administration has changed the situation. But the very attempt and ambitions of the Serbian President to pursue Tito’s policy of equidistance from all world centers, adjusted for the scale of the country, speaks volumes.
In the current geopolitical situation and for the above reasons, Belgrade could lay claim to the status of a negotiating platform between the West and Russia, in other words, to become a potential venue for a new Helsinki Conference, which, obviously, our countries need more and more every day ", Bondarenko believes.
He is convinced that due to the temporary closure of Turkey to flights and a significant reduction in transit through Istanbul, which over the past year has become the most important hub for Russia, Belgrade could turn into a new temporary “window to the world”, connecting Russia with both the West and the East during the period of air travel restrictions.
“I think such a development of events would benefit both domestic tourists, airlines, and Serbia. Given the fact that this country has become the only one where you can freely get vaccinated with any of the coronavirus vaccines currently existing in the world, this would be another factor in strengthening Russia’s position in the Balkans. And taking into account the fact that from 2022 Serbia should turn from an importer into a transiter of Russian gas to Hungary and further to Austria, this could play a stabilizing role for Europe, which cannot get out of the state of turbulence,” Bondarenko sums up.
Belgrade could become a negotiating platform between Russia and the West.