Vučić pushes false narrative of Balkans split between rival military alliances

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has once again raised tensions in the region, warning that the Balkans are being split into opposing military alliances and accusing neighbouring countries of aligning against Serbia. His remarks come against the backdrop of continuing student-led protests at home, growing pressure from the opposition, and criticism from EU lawmakers over his close ties with Russia and China.

Speaking about the situation in the region for Serbian tv Prva on 9 September, Vučić warned that Serbia will face serious challenges, including the formation of new military alliances in the Balkans.

“After the Tirana-Pristina-Zagreb military alliance, an additional Zagreb-Ljubljana alliance has been created. It is quite clear this was not set up because of militarily neutral Austria, but of course because of Serbia. They unequivocally expect Bulgaria to join that alliance,” Vučić said, adding that Serbia has been unable to obtain a response from NATO regarding these groupings.

This is not the first time when Vučić has pointed the finger at Croatia, Kosovo, Albania and Bulgaria, accusing them to build a military alliance, while this time he also added Slovenia. Apparently this narrative helps him to justify his plan to build the country’s “strongest and most technologically advanced army in its history”, which raises concerns among neighbours and Western observers over Belgrade’s growing ambitions in the Balkans.

Vučić’s accusation that Croatia, Albania, Kosovo, and Bulgaria are attempting to form a military alliance hostile to Serbia lack substance. While these countries have pursued regional cooperation on security and defence matters, the initiatives in question are primarily economic, diplomatic, and EU/NATO-oriented, not overtly military or anti-Serb.

Conversely, on 1 April, Serbia and Hungary signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement in Belgrade, operationalizing a 2023 strategic pact. Vučić has explicitly described the agreement as moving toward a “military alliance” or “union,” stating it would enhance security for both countries and serve as a counter to perceived threats from NATO-aligned neighbours.

Vučić’s claims appear to be an escalation of his government’s frequent rhetoric portraying external forces as threats to Serbian sovereignty, particularly in the context of ongoing tensions over Kosovo and broader Balkan geopolitics.

Vučić unveils plans for Serbia’s most powerful army ever

Energy security at the centre of Serbia’s foreign policy

Responding to criticism from MEPs over his meetings in China with President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vučić argued that many fail to understand Serbia’s energy dependence.

“I can love or hate Putin or Russia, and I have nothing against being completely open, just as I have nothing against any country in the world, but I must take care of Serbia’s citizens. Our people must have enough gas, our factories must have enough gas, we must have enough electricity this winter,” he said.

According to Vučić, it is the West’s “job” to criticise his talks with Xi and Putin, but Western countries have both sufficient gas and electricity supplies, while Serbia does not. “We have oil, which we receive through a single route – Janaf, which Europeans can always close. And we have a Russian-owned refinery – NIS,” he said.

He added that the situation in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is deteriorating and that “nothing will be easy.” Vučić further accused some Montenegrin media of “anti-Serbian behaviour” and even of “calls to kill Serbs.”

Half-apologies after calling Green party MEP’s ‘scum’

Vučić also commented on his earlier remarks about members of the European Green Party who attended student protests in Novi Sad. He acknowledged that it was “probably wrong” to call them “scum”, but immediately stressed that he thinks “much worse” of them.

“They say I insulted them because I called them scum. To be completely honest – I think much worse of them. But was I wrong to call them that? I probably was – the president of the state should not use that word in public discourse,” Vučić told Prva TV.

EPP loses patience with Vučić’s SNS as red lines are crossed

According to him, the MEPs came to take part in “violent demonstrations, to commit violence in another country, and afterwards to lie and deceive the public about what had happened.” Vučić claimed that everyone could see what occurred in Novi Sad and who had attacked whom, insisting that the police “stood calmly and endured the attacks” before intervening.

Domestic unrest and protests

Civil protests, led by students, have continued in Serbia for ten months, demanding accountability from the authorities for the deaths of 16 people when the roof of the main railway station in Novi Sad collapsed on 1 November 2024.

Vučić has boasted that he received intelligence from Russian services claiming a “colour revolution” was being prepared in Serbia, dismissing the existence of a genuine protest movement.

Opposition appeal to the European Parliament

Meanwhile, representatives of the Serbian opposition have called on the European Parliament to impose sanctions on Vučić, Prime Minister Đura Macut, Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić and Interior Minister Ivica Dačić.

Speaking in Strasbourg at a panel discussion titled “Serbia: Democracy at the Crossroads”, opposition leaders demanded targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, against senior officials they accuse of supporting violence against protesters.

Biljana Đorđević, co-chair of the Green-Left Front, said her party, together with the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) and the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG), wanted “a clear condemnation of police violence and the actions of illegal paramilitary groups” as well as sanctions against senior officials.

“We want sanctions, travel bans and asset freezes for the key participants of the regime – Brnabić, Vučić, Macut, Dačić, from the police officers to the officials who carried out the torture,” Đorđević said, adding that there must be an investigation into whether “European taxpayers’ money is being used for corruption within Serbia’s leadership.”

The panel was organised by three political groups in the European Parliament – the Socialists and Democrats, the Greens, and Renew Europe – with participation from MEPs Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D), Vladimir Prebilič (Greens), and Helmut Brandstätter (Renew).

Caption: A handout photo made available by the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Press Office shows Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (R) and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic shaking hands during their joint press conference in Orban’s office in Budapest, Hungary, 17 February 2025. EPA/ZOLTAN FISCHER/HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER’S PRESS OFFICE/HANDOUT