DW: Vucic received a warning from NATO that his deadline has expired

Protests in Serbia, tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. DW analyzes why NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić spoke for the second time in just fifteen days.

The protests in Serbia, but also the events in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, nevertheless attracted the attention of international politics.

After months of ignoring the student and civil rebellion, some Western politicians spoke out, among other things, expressing their support for the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also cautious comments about the wave of discontent on the Serbian streets.

It seems to have become somewhat clear that support for Aleksandar Vučić's "stabilocracy" is not a great guarantee for regional stability, and that direct meetings between international officials and the Serbian president are becoming more frequent.

Serbia as a factor of instability

The details of these meetings are largely not presented to the public, apart from the usual phrases about willingness to improve cooperation and support for peace.

But it is certainly interesting that in the space of just a few weeks there has been a conversation between NATO Secretary General Marko Rutte and Aleksandar Vučić for the second time.

As Dušan Janjić from the Forum for Ethnic Relations estimates for DW, this is a sure sign that the main topic of the meeting is Serbia.

"This shows that Serbia is on the verge of a major security risk and that the behavior of the Serbian authorities contributes to that process, which attracted the attention of NATO, as Serbia also has regional importance. The topic will probably be the use/non-use of acoustic cannon weapons and that the government should do everything to avoid armed conflicts with citizens. It seems to me that the warning to bring paramilitary and parapolice forces, closely linked to organized crime and the drug business, under control is particularly important," Janjic added.

In this context, Janjic points to the fact that during the previous conversation with Vučić, the NATO Secretary General drew attention to the resolution of the Banjska case.

"This is not only Serbia's international obligation. The so-called civil defense, which was also activated during the March 15 protest, must be disarmed and brought under control. Its management system must be dismantled, and that system is located in Serbia," Janjic stressed.

Diplomatic warning for Vučić

Aleksandar Vučić from Brussels said that he discussed with Mark Rutte the conduct of KFOR and NATO in Kosovo, but also the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

When it comes to the tense situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dušan Janjić believes that Vučić has received a "diplomatic warning that time is up and that there is no longer room for the so-called double and triple games of support or lack of support for Milorad Dodik."

"It is also a warning and it is in Rutte's jurisdiction – so that something like Banjska does not happen there. Serbia must show that it has clear political positions, and perhaps more than that, that it has effective security mechanisms to reduce the risks," Janjic stressed.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos described the meeting in Brussels with Vučić as "constructive", and said that concrete steps on Serbia's path towards the EU and the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans were discussed.

She also emphasized "the importance of civil society and independent media in that process."

Such a formulation will certainly not be received with enthusiasm by the Serbian public, just as previous restrained statements by European Union representatives about the regime of Aleksandar Vučić have not been.

This will most likely only further deepen distrust of the EU in Serbia.

Lost faith

However, Dušan Janjić warns that “first of all, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, came under criticism for Marta Kos’s statements. We saw expressions of gratitude for those who supposedly protected the safety of all participants, and now we all know that they actually carried out an attack on citizens,” Janjić said.

Vučić, on the other hand, cannot say anything new about Serbia's progress in European integration, because they have almost completely stopped, Janjić added, emphasizing that "the new fact is that no one trusts Vučić anymore."

"Maybe he could try to form a new government that would be a little more pro-European and expert on paper, but a problem of this kind would have no international doubts in Belgrade," he believes.

The new political player in Serbia is the rebellious citizens

If we are already talking about parastatal forces, during the protest on Saturday, March 15, several hundred masked thugs gathered in the so-called "park of students who want to learn."

According to the evidence so far, the most serious conflicts were avoided thanks to a little luck and good organization of the protest's security.

Although after the protest it seemed that the park was being abandoned, a new rally is being organized in the Pionir Park area in front of the Serbian presidency with tents that look like military and masked civilians, who are enforcing some of their own rules for entering and moving around the park, while the police silently observe everything. /Telegraph/