Second European country refusing to sanction Russia -- a challenge to democracy

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

While attention is properly focused on Putin's Russia and Ukraine, there is another battle for democratic values that has been flying under the radar. Political developments in Serbia may seem far away, but Americans ignore developments in the Balkans at their peril. Battles between autocrats and those in favor of democracy, plus intercommunal strife, have had seismic impacts on the rest of the world - from World War I to the horrific Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Under autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia is the only country in Eastern Europe outside of Russian ally Belarus, not to impose economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

This should come as no surprise to those who follow developments in the Balkans. Putin has been arming Vucic with tanks, fighter jets and air defense systems. With all Western eyes on Ukraine, Vucic could initiate yet another deadly Balkan conflict by supporting Bosnian Serbs' long-standing desire to secede and join Serbia.

In 2020, the World Press Freedom Index ranked Vucic's Serbia 93rd. According to Freedom House, "At some media outlets, journalists are implicitly aware of which topics they can and cannot discuss freely." A media watchdog calculated that between December 2020 and April 2021, Vucic racked up 50 hours of on-screen time - 85 percent positive. In April of 2020, journalist Ana Lalić was arrested after reporting negatively on the country's response to COVID-19.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/second-european-country-refusing-to-sanction-russia-%e2%80%94-a-challenge-to-democracy/ar-AAVGgYo

[RussBLib]

1. I remember Serbia

... and Slobodan Milosevic. Died in prison in The Hague. Are they trying to follow in his footsteps? Not nice people.

[Igel]

2. They have a history in common--Russia helped Serbs resist Ottoman occupation and oppression.

And more recently, there are similarities: Not only did Russia come to Serbia's help in the '90s, but they both don't recognize the legitimacy of what caused their breakup, of an ethnicity on much of their soil, or the idea that people living on the ground that's the "heart of Serbija" have any claim to the turf. Meanwhile, both were the victims of nefarious western libero-fascists out to destroy ... Whatever. (Why we'd pick on Serbija? Don't know. Oh. Wait, many think that they're inherently superior by ethnicity and religion.)

[dalton99a]

3. Murderous piece of shit. 80,000 Serbs attended his funeral.

Serbia belongs with Russia, not with EU or NATO

[lees1975]

4. Surrounded by NATO countries

and relatively poor in terms of national prosperity, they drain more out of Russia than Russia gets from them.