Russia Loses Another Ally as the EU Reaches Out to Serbia

The Vucic regime in Serbia has fallen after 12 years in power.

The student activist political party, which led anti-government protests for two years, secured an outright majority of seats in the general election held over the weekend.

Former President Aleksandar Vucic also officially conceded defeat.

[Mija Pavic / Serbian University Student: Everyone is celebrating wildly because everything we have worked for over the past two years has finally become a reality. All the effort and sacrifice we poured in have finally borne good fruit.]

The anti-government protests, which condemned the corruption of the Vucic administration, have thus succeeded, deepening concerns in Russia as it watches developments unfold.

Vucic has consistently maintained close ties with President Vladimir Putin.

While expressing a desire to join the European Union, he did not participate in anti-Russia sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, and served as an ally by purchasing large quantities of oil and gas, which are financial lifelines for Russia.

However, with Vucic losing power in this general election, the likelihood of a crack in the close relationship with Serbia has increased.

The shock to Russia from this regime change in Serbia was even greater because the Orban administration, another solid ally in Hungary, collapsed six months ago.

Russia also left a threatening yet enticing message toward the incoming Serbian government.

[Dmitry Peskov / Kremlin Spokesperson: We hope that they will understand that cooperation with Russia is in Serbia's national interest, because cooperation with Russia brings benefits to Serbia.]

The European Union, witnessing the pro-Russian regime change, has also grown busy.

EU leaders have successively congratulated Serbia on the regime change and expressed their intent to actively support Serbia's EU accession.

While it is still difficult to guarantee whether Serbia's regime change will immediately lead to a shift in its pro-Russian policy and a transition toward Europe, a reduction in Russia's influence within Europe appears inevitable for the time being due to the successive loss of allies in power.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)

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