With all eyes on Ukraine, Putin to send his envoy to Balkans

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — With all eyes on a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending his high safety envoy to the Balkans the place Moscow has been attempting to take care of affect primarily by its ally Serbia, based on experiences.

Serbia’s pro-government media stated Monday Nikolai Patrushev, the highly effective secretary of the Kremlin’s Safety Council, is because of arrive in Belgrade within the coming days for talks with Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic. Moscow hasn’t made an announcement about Patrushev’s journey.

The talks are reportedly to concentrate on Moscow’s claims that “mercenaries” from Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia are being despatched from these Balkan states to combat on the Ukrainian aspect towards the pro-Russia rebels amid fears of a Russian assault.

Officers from Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia have rejected these claims, which had been made by Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov final week.

“There’s info that mercenaries are being recruited in Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina to knock Russia out of steadiness and ship them to locations together with Donbass,” Lavrov stated based on the Russian TASS information company, referring to the rebel-held territory in jap Ukraine. “We are actually double-checking that.”

Vucic on Monday known as a gathering of Serbia’s high safety officers who reportedly additionally mentioned the experiences of “mercenaries” from the Balkans going to Ukraine. Dozens of Serb fighters have up to now fought in jap Ukraine, however on the aspect of the pro-Russia rebels.

Serbia has formally declared neutrality within the Russia-Ukraine standoff that threatens a serious battle in Europe. Nevertheless, Serbia’s state-controlled media is squarely supporting Moscow within the disaster, carrying Russian propaganda with none questions raised.

Though formally looking for European Union membership, Serbia has refused to align its international insurance policies with the 27-nation bloc and has as an alternative strengthened its political, financial and navy ties with Russia and China.

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The more and more autocratic Vucic, who faces an April 3 basic election, opened his marketing campaign this previous weekend by declaring that so long as he’s in energy, Serbia won’t ever be a part of NATO and can keep its shut ties with Moscow and Beijing.

Illustrating rising ties between the 2 Slavic allies, Serbia and Russia have just lately shaped a “working group” tasked with combating well-liked revolts often known as “shade revolutions” that the 2 international locations’ high safety officers described as devices of the West to destabilize “free states.”

Western officers have accused Kremlin of “malign” affect within the Balkans that has helped gas a wave of nationalism which threatens to undo peace in Bosnia after its 1992-95 battle, reignite armed battle over Kosovo that break up from Serbia in 2008, and fire up political troubles in NATO-members North Macedonia and Montenegro.

Moscow has repeatedly denied these claims, though sustaining that Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo mustn’t ever be a part of NATO.

Bosnia is in the course of a political disaster, with EU international ministers assembly in Brussels to debate methods to ease tensions and forestall the potential breakup of the ethnically divided Balkan nation. Bosnian Serbs, who’ve the assist of Serbia and Russia, are threatening to separate from the federation.

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Llazar Semini contributed to this report from Tirana, Albania.