Russia's influence overshadows Serbia's election

The Serbian politician and diplomat Vladimir Krsljanin, 63, has been one of the most prominent advocates of close cooperation between Serbia and Russia for decades. He was a high-ranking official in the Serbian Socialist Party of Slobodan Milosevic, in whose defense he made a name for himself at the war crimes trial at The Hague.

In a book whose title translates as "The New World. Serbia, Russia, China — the future has begun" that he presented in Belgrade earlier this month, Krsljanin sketches a view of the world that has found sympathy in large swaths of the Serbian population. It includes lines such as: "Like Christ, Russia is conducting a war to save the world" and "The only two possibilities are Russia's victory or the annihilation of humanity."

Such theses can be found on a daily basis in Serbia's pro-Russian media outlets. The Kremlin-controlled Sputnik Serbia and RT Balkan, which both have offices in Belgrade that they use to broadcast to Serbia's neighbors, are powerful engines of the propaganda machine. Many Serbian outlets use their "information," which often goes unchecked.

Misinformation hides role of EU in Serbia

The recent opening of a new natural gas pipeline from Bulgaria to Serbia gives an indication of the impact of the misinformation. The pipeline will give access to gas from Azerbaijan from next year, and Serbia, which has EU candidate status, received €75 million ($82 million) from the bloc to contribute to the €85 million in construction costs. Some €50 million were a donation, the rest consisted of low-interest loans.

But this information was barely reported in the Serbian media, with state broadcaster RTS even claiming that the gas was coming from Russia. In pictures of the opening ceremony in the press, the EU representative was hidden behind by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Russia is doing everything to keep Serbia close, with both the Kremlin and the state-controlled media going all out for Vucic. A recent article maligning the governing party's political rivals in the Belgrade newspaper Informer, often called the president's "megaphone," read: "Foreign embassies and [the US investor and philanthropist George] Soros are behind the lying opposition." This was supported by claims that Russia Today had uncovered the information.

And in its latest edition, the right-wing nationalist weekly magazine Pecat published a portrait of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, citing him as saying: "I am worried about the Serbs."

Germany often comes under criticism

It isn't new for Serbian media outlets to invoke the Serbian-Russian military brotherhood in the 20th century's two world wars.

Russia's ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Bozan-Kharchenko, is a frequent guest in Serbian media and often argues that the West is acting in Ukraine as it did in Kosovo.

Both the Russian and Serbian media have presented the Kosovo "card" as the ace in their sleeve, claiming that in the UN Security Council Russia, and China, are the guarantors that Serbia can continue to lay claim to Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has a largely ethnic Albanian population. The argument is that "the West" wants to ensure that this separation of a once Serbian province remains permanent.

Russia presents itself as a "real" alternative to the West. "The Western NATO masters are on the offensive and are ordering Serbia to go down on its knees and capitulate," wrote Sputnik Serbia recently. This claim was taken up in a variety of Serbian online media outlets.

Russian and Serbian media outlets frequently accuse Germany, in particular, of fomenting a coup in Serbia. When German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock recently criticized the nationalist tone of the Serbian election campaign, she was accused of "gross interference." She and other German politicians were accused of "talking about a glorious EU future while dismembering the Serbian state," a comment made with reference to Kosovo.

Vucic vows allegiance to Moscow

Vucic, the top politician for the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) seems to have single-handedly shaped its election campaign, even though according to the constitution the president isn't allowed to get involved in party politics. He has made vows of allegiance to Russia as thanks for its support.

"I have fought to ensure that the friendship with Russia that we have developed over decades is not destroyed overnight," said Vucic recently, referring to his insistent refusal to impose sanctions on Russia despite his country's EU candidate status, pointing out that Russia is Serbia's "traditional friend."

Vucic has also used the Serbian media outlets under his control to repeatedly claim that Western states are financing the opposition to topple him. 

Paradoxically, though it's far from unacceptable in Serbia to be pro-Russia, both in real life and in the virtual world created and maintained by the media, the state actually has much closer ties with the West than with Russia. Serbia conducts two-thirds of its trade with the EU, the source of most foreign investment.

Moreover, few people would actually decide to go to Russia to study or find work. For many people, only the West offers a better future, particularly Austria and Germany.

This article was originally written in German.