Vučić accuses neighbors of anti-Serbian campaign and military alliance in Republika Srpska speech

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić delivered a combative speech on 5 January in Trebinje, a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska entity, where he stood alongside Milorad Dodik, the influential pro-Russian politician who formerly served as the entity’s president and remains a central figure despite losing his mandate after a 2025 court conviction.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new hospital named “Sveti arhiđakon Stefan – 9. januar,” Vučić accused leaders in Pristina, Zagreb, Sarajevo, and Podgorica of waging the “dirtiest campaign” against Serbia. He framed his country as a historical victim that endured immense suffering through the Balkan Wars, the two world wars, and the violent breakup of Yugoslavia, yet refuses to bow to greater powers.

Invoking a traditional Serbian proverb about preferring to live boldly as a falcon rather than timidly as a mouse, Vučić portrayed Serbia as proud and unyielding amid what he described as gathering global storms and a breakdown in international dialogue. He complained of relentless fabrications and brutal lies directed at both himself and his nation, while insisting Belgrade remains open to discussions about the painful past shared with Bosniaks, Croats, and others, because peace must remain the highest priority.

Yet the Serbian leader’s tone sharpened when he turned to regional security. He described a recently formed defence cooperation agreement between Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo – signed in March 2025 and involving two NATO members – as a new military alliance aimed squarely at Serbia, dismissing any suggestion that its threat would prove temporary. Vučić went further, claiming Zagreb is working to bring Montenegro under its full influence and pull Podgorica into a coordinated anti-Serbian policy.

Peace, he argued, can only be preserved if Serbia maintains sufficient military strength to deter any potential aggressor. He rejected persistent accusations, dating back to the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine four years ago, that Belgrade harbors plans to attack its neighbors – accusations he called entirely baseless.

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At the same time, Vučić proudly noted that Serbia has advanced its armed forces at a pace placing it among the world’s leaders over the past five years.

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The choice of venue carried its own weight. Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity created by the 1995 Dayton peace accords, has long been a source of tension within Bosnia and Herzegovina, frequently criticized for separatist rhetoric and actions that undermine the country’s fragile multi-ethnic framework. Dodik, a staunch ally of both Vučić and Moscow, used the occasion to express gratitude toward the Serbian president and call for even closer ties between Belgrade and Banja Luka.

Serbia currently fields the Western Balkans’ most capable military, with annual defence spending estimated at around $2.3 billion and a strategy of armed neutrality that draws equipment from diverse international suppliers. Critics of Vučić contend that his warnings of encirclement serve primarily to justify continued rearmament and to shift focus away from domestic challenges, while the regional agreements he condemns are officially presented as efforts to enhance stability and support Kosovo’s path toward Euro-Atlantic integration.

Serbia’s neighbours frown at the “Serbian World” (Srpski svet) doctrine, popularized in the 2020s by Serbian officials such as Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin and embraced by Vučić and Dodik, which envisions the political, cultural, and institutional unification of all ethnic Serbs across the Western Balkans. It is often viewed by critics as a modern, softened reincarnation of the irredentist “Greater Serbia” ideology that fueled the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, drawing parallels to Russia’s “Russian World” concept for justifying influence over ethnic kin in neighboring states.

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Caption: Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stands alongside Milorad Dodik, the influential pro-Russian politician who formerly served as the entity’s president and remains a central figure despite losing his mandate after a 2025 court conviction. [@KonteZanovic on X]