While the Serbian member of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, has no doubt that Serbia and Republika Srpska should be more oriented towards Russia in the economic field, the expert public has conflicting opinions about his position.
Namely, before the meeting with Sergei Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Dodik stated that he expected Moscow’s support when it comes to the economy.
The Serbian member of the Presidency of BiH specified that he is counting on new Russian investments in all areas, especially in the energy sector, where there is already continuity of cooperation and new projects have been started.
– We in Srpska do not pay attention to the fact that our good bilateral cooperation could be tendentiously interpreted as a malignant influence of Russia. The historical experiences of the Serbian people show that this influence is benign, that is, benevolent. But, Srpska, just like Serbia, is pursuing a policy of military neutrality, and it will continue to do so regardless of pressure from various sides – said Dodik.
While Milorad Dodik believes that Serbia and the Republika Srpska should intensify economic relations with the Russian Federation in the economic sense, the expert public on that issue is divided in Serbia.
On the one hand, Brussels expects Serbia, which wants to become a member of the European Union, to harmonize its foreign and economic policies with the views of this bloc, while on the other hand, Serbia must follow its economic interests in a world where China, Russia and Turkey are increasingly putting the region in the focus of their investments.
Again, the EU remains our country’s largest trading partner.
Economist Milan R. Kovacevic told Danas that given its orientation to become a member of the European Union, Serbia must follow its guidelines when it comes to foreign policy.
– In other words, Brussels expects Serbia, as a candidate country, to take the same course when it comes to Russia. This, of course, also applies when it comes to economic relations. Of course, business people always try to develop intensive relations with countries that are in disagreement with the EU when it comes to the interests of their companies, but due to a number of legal solutions within the countries of the European Union, this is often impossible to achieve. The same case applies to that issue when it comes to Serbia – states Kovacevic.
Our interlocutor points out that part of the professional public denies the proclaimed policy of Belgrade towards an unconditional orientation towards the European Union.
– Some analysts believe that Serbia is increasingly turning to Washington at the cost of cooling relations with Russia. If that is taken into account, it cannot be stated that Serbia’s attitude towards Brussels is the most sincere and consistent – says Kovacevic.
