The International Institute for Peace, in cooperation with the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, the Karl-Renner-Institute and the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, cordially invites you to the following event:
SERBIA AT A GEOPOLITICAL CROSSROADS
Date: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Time: 5:30 PM (CET) Belgrade Time
Venue: Facebook & YouTube Live / Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
Speaker:
• DAFINA PECI, Civil SSociety Specialist and Youth Policy Expert
• AGIM SELAMI, Executive Director at ZIP Institute, Skopje
• LAURA CRNIĆ, Student, Faculty of Political Sciences, Zagreb
• VUK VELEBIT, Independent political analyst
Moderation:
• IGOR BANDOVIC, Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
Conclusion:
• HANNES SWOBODA, President of the IIP and former MEP
Content:
Serbia is bracing itself for the presidential and parliamentarian elections which will be held in April 2022. With rising authoritarianism and corruption, Serbia is more and more drifting away from its European course. The current President, Aleksandar Vucic, continues to lead the country with his authoritarian and anti-democratic policies which effectively strengthens his position and autocratic rule. The opposition, on the other hand, must deal with low media coverage, unstable cooperation between opposition parties and difficulties in monitoring the election process. Yet, after 10 years of Vucic’s rule in Serbia, it seems that the elections 2022 could bring some change in the political spectrum of Serbia.
The ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine put Serbia in a difficult and rather unwilling geopolitical position – it finds itself sitting on two chairs, the one being the EU-integration process and the other one representing the close historical and in someway political ties with Russia. While the West is condemning and sanctioning Russia, Serbia remained for several days silent. On the 2nd of March it voted in favor of the Ukraine Resolution in the United Nations. Nevertheless, the President Vucic and the government are still refusing to join the EU in their sanctions against Russia. The calculation of Serbian leading politicians is clear: Do not damage the relations with Russia because of the Kosovo issue but try to remain on the road of the EU integration process. This newly emerged crisis puts Serbia in a challenging and dreadful geopolitical position. It seems, that a clear path should be chosen and that the political neutrality is not anymore an option.
How will Serbia position itself? How will ongoing Russia-Ukraine War influence and shape the upcoming elections and the campaign? What role do media play when it comes to the public opinion shaping in Serbia? Will Serbia continue its path towards EU Integration? How will the current international crisis shape Serbian politics towards Kosovo? Will the current Russia-Ukraine War influence the stability and security of the Western Balkans?
Those are some of the questions which will be tackled by the panelists!
