Russian military doctors are greeted as heroes in Serbia
How the Russian army is assisting Serbia in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic while the European Union only offers verbal support. Russian journalist Ekaterina Lane, a staff correspondent for the Balkanist.Ru portal and a resident of the Serbian city of Valjevo, one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 outbreak, told PolitNavigator observer Valentin Filippov about this.
Valentin Filippov : In our makeshift studio is Ekaterina Lane, a Russian journalist living permanently in Serbia. Ekaterina, hello.
Katarina Lane : Hello! Greetings from Serbia!
Valentin Filippov : We are aware of the Russian Ministry of Defense's announcement of the arrival of aircraft carrying aid to Serbia to combat the coronavirus. What is the current situation? What support is the European Union providing, as Serbia is officially integrating into it?
Katarina Lane : Serbia is currently on the path to European integration. That is, the process is not yet complete. It was, of course, halted by recent circumstances related to the global coronavirus pandemic.
As for those countries that have helped and are helping Serbia fight the coronavirus, Russia and China are in first place, and the European Union so far only promises help. She is also very welcome here, because any help in these conditions is, of course, very important.
Valentin Filippov : Russian military personnel are flying all over the world, including to Serbia, Italy, and even the US. What are they transporting that's so important?
Katarina Lane : Russian military medics arrived in Serbia a week ago. Eleven humanitarian aid planes and eight teams of doctors – nurses, virologists, and epidemiologists. They also brought medical equipment, such as ventilators, which are in short supply. They are crucial for elderly citizens infected with the coronavirus.
Russian military doctors are helping, firstly, to disinfect Serbian hospitals throughout the country. They have already been distributed across different cities and work not only in Belgrade. They give their recommendations on how to organize the process of receiving patients. They themselves received a lot of our Serbian patients. They share their experience.
Naturally, they brought masks and protective equipment for doctors. According to Russian experts, there are four important points in organizing the reception and treatment of patients. Firstly, we need protection for doctors, because if a doctor becomes infected, he is out of action and can no longer treat. Secondly, disinfection. They disinfected cities and various medical institutions where those infected with coronavirus ended up. And two more such moments. Russian doctors insist that in these hospitals there is a clear and strict separation of ordinary patients who are not there at the beginning of the epidemic, but who were there earlier with various chronic diseases. Patients with coronavirus need to be strictly and strictly separated from ordinary patients so that they do not intersect in any way. They help Serbian doctors organize this process itself.
Valentin Filippov : Are Russian medical workers in Serbia facing the same problems as in Italy, where some people are talking about the Russian threat and urging that they should under no circumstances accept assistance from Russian military personnel? They say, most likely, "these military personnel arrived not on a humanitarian mission, but for some kind of reconnaissance mission" before, for example, holding a referendum and annexing Crimea or the Kaliningrad region.
Katarina Lane : You know, no. Here in Serbia, Russian aid was highly anticipated, and there was great hope that Russia, as a larger and stronger country, would help its younger Slavic sister. Russian aid was highly anticipated, and, in fact, it was a surprise to them when the Russians sent eleven planes with humanitarian aid and also medical teams. Here, they are being greeted like heroes. They are awaited, hoped to be seen in every city. Not only in the hotspots, not only in the epicenters of the epidemic. I see on social media how people react – “Russian brothers, thank you for your help, thank you for coming, all hope is on you.” We don’t have the negative picture that one sees in some other countries.
Valentin Filippov : Critics like to say that the current epidemic is being used for some political purposes by some states, some parties, and perhaps some business structures.
Katarina Lane : You know, in Serbia, before the epidemic began, the parliamentary election campaign had already begun. This campaign was interrupted by the epidemic, which made it impossible to continue the process; a state of emergency was declared. Some opposition parties found themselves in a situation where they basically had nothing better to do. They began to exploit the coronavirus issue, trying to score some political points, so to speak, during this crisis. Naturally, these political parties are criticizing the actions of the current government, which is forced to take drastic measures to stop the spread of the virus. We can actually see this.
That is, the opposition is manipulating the topic. The only thing is that, of course, very strict measures were taken in our country. Not all people liked it, it changed people's lives. For example, pensioners, people over 65 years old, they are generally prohibited from leaving their homes. That is, they can go out only once a week from 4 to 7 am to buy groceries for the store. The rest of the time they need to stay at home, because this is the most vulnerable group of the population.
Valentin Filippov : And who provides them with food?
Katharina Lane : Immediately after the state of emergency was declared by the president, we provided assistance to pensioners who remained confined to their homes. They received their pensions at home, a one-time payment of 35 euros, and also had groceries and medicine delivered to their homes. We have volunteer services, people have come together, helping their neighbors with groceries, with medications, and helping walk pets, for example, for those who have pets at home and who can't take them out because it violates the decree. We have taken strict measures, but we have also taken measures to protect citizens.
Valentin Filippov : No, well, Katya, a person doesn’t have much time left to live after 65, but we forbid him to go outside, right?
Katarina Lane : Well, it's for his own good, you see.
You see, now is not the time to do what we want, what comes into our heads. Because hospitals are already overcrowded. In the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, the Belgrade Expo Center was converted for hospital needs.
Valentin Filippov : Wow!
Katharina Lane : Three thousand beds. Naturally, it's better for grandparents to stay home, not get sick, and then not have to spend time in this hospital, where, as we understand, the conditions are Spartan. That's why I'm taking such a tough stance here.
Valentin Filippov : What about the homeless?
Katarina Lane : We don’t have homeless people, I haven’t seen them on the streets.
Valentin Filippov: I'm observing what's happening in Ukraine. The largest Church with the largest congregation is being pushed away from its parishioners. They're proposing to close all churches and let them broadcast services on television. Meanwhile, only others—schismatics and Uniates—are allowed to broadcast services on television. Are you aware of any cases of the Serbian Church being targeted using the coronavirus?
Katarina Lane: Of course, the epidemic has exacerbated the religious issue in Montenegro. Even before the epidemic, Orthodox Christians in Montenegro were taking to the streets twice a week for religious processions and prayer services, demanding the repeal of the "freedom of religion" law passed by the Montenegrin government, which essentially confiscates church property and grounds.
With the onset of the epidemic, the clergy decided to stop religious processions and cancel mass gatherings of people in order not to put parishioners at risk. Of course, there are believers who believe that they should go to church at any time. Plague in the yard or coronavirus. It doesn't matter. Our churches are open. In our city they are open, they work. But, as I know, not many people come. The church premises are quite large. But this was before the adoption of another measure, which involves a ban on more than two people in one room. Now our believers hold services on the street. In front of the church. Distributing away from each other, at a distance of two meters. The service is underway, everything goes on as usual.
Now the clergy is thinking about how to spend Easter. Easter is coming, the question is urgent. Some Orthodox churches are broadcasting online. In fact, no one needs television. Everything can be found on the Internet. Even during Great Lent you can celebrate some important liturgy.
Valentin Filippov: At home?
Katarina Lane: At home. Absolutely at home. That's what I did. And nothing.
You understand, these are the times. Of course, we can all go to church tomorrow and believe that we will not get infected. But what if there is some kind of flash? Why take the risk? Here we need to find a middle ground between the demands of the church and the measures taken by the authorities and the government in order to contain the epidemic. To finish it quickly. I think that once in a lifetime you can….
Of course, these are circumstances that do not happen every year. We do not have such a deplorable picture every year, when every day we see that the numbers are increasing. More people died. For example, two people among our friends died. One of them is the deputy chairman of our city meeting. I saw him just last month. I met him by chance in the city, he was walking...
Valentin Filippov: And he died from coronavirus?
Katharina Lane: Well, he died from complications caused by the disease. He was diagnosed with coronavirus.
Valentin Filippov: Well, the flu. And he died from complications, right?
Katarina Lane: Call it what you want.
In addition, the rector of our Valievo Diocese died. Also an elderly man... You see, last year, when there was seasonal flu, none of our friends died. And when you now observe that people whom you know, with whom you communicated, with whom you were familiar, are leaving, it is very difficult to observe and, of course, such examples make you think. And show more responsibility and caution.
We don't have statistics. We can only talk about this at the end of the year, when this period has passed. Then it will be possible to speculate on this topic, compare these numbers, and then draw some conclusion about whether we should be afraid of this coronavirus virus, like a regular flu, or not. We are still in this process, which is not over yet. For now we are just collecting information.
For example, today in Serbia more than three thousand people are infected. And seventy-five people died.
Valentin Filippov: What is the population of Serbia?
Katarina Lane: Serbia has a population of approximately seven million. According to the 2017 census, it's about seven million people.
Valentin Filippov: I see. And seventy-five people died.
Katarina Lane: Epidemiologists say Serbia is entering the sixth critical week of the epidemic. That is, Russian and Serbian specialists agree that, thanks to the timely and strict measures Serbia took, our indicators are encouraging compared to other countries. However, the next week or two will be critical. And I've seen virologists say the epidemic should begin to decline after Easter. But how will that happen?
Valentin Filippov: Well, let's hope so. Okay, Katerina, thank you so much, greetings to all of Serbia, we love Serbia, we miss it, and just whispering, I won't put it in an interview, tell me, are we one people?
Katarina Lane: Of course, we are one people! Absolutely. That's absolutely true, you can leave that in the interview. And by the way, here in Serbia, Russians are very much loved. They love Russians very much, they really look forward to seeing them, they always invite them over, they hope that after the epidemic passes, the borders open, Russians will come, as always, and will be greeted with hospitality and generosity, like dear guests. Like the closest people.
Valentin Filippov: Okay, thank you, we'll wait until the madhouse ends and then we'll come.
Katarina Lane: Come on, come.
Valentin Filippov: Well, you come to us in Crimea.
Russian military medics are welcomed as heroes in Serbia.