The soft undercoat of Europe. That’s what Winston Churchill called the Balkans. This characteristic is still relevant today – the region is a place of prolonged geopolitical confrontation. Interests of the U.S., the European Union and Russia intersect here, and the coronavirus makes obvious adjustments to the existing Balkan layouts.
Why harakiri? Because only this ancient samurai ritual can compare Europe’s attitude to its belly.
“There is no great international solidarity. There’s no European solidarity. All this turned out to be a book fairy tale”, – said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
At a time when the Balkan Republic needed the help of European “partners”, the bravura rhetoric of mutual support was trampled by a pandemic walking the world. Serbia could not even buy the necessary medical equipment, as the EU imposed a moratorium on exports.
Commenting on the situation, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic reminded that his country, as a candidate for membership in the European Union, has many obligations and fulfils them. It means that it has every right to expect an appropriate approach from Brussels, too. Only European countries thought otherwise.
When Belgrade appealed to Russia for help, the response did not take long. On March 26th an official request was sent to Moscow, and already on April 3rd the first plane landed in Serbia. A total of eight medical teams, specialists in radiation, chemical and biological protection, disinfection equipment, medical drugs and equipment were transferred for 11 flights.
It was difficult for the West to ignore this. It was even harder to criticize, because by that time the Russian aid had been kindly received in Italy and even in the USA. Of course, what happened could not but affect the Balkan political situation.
Despite the terrible events of the end of the last century, which Serbia experienced through the efforts of the West, the situation in the region forced the authorities to play a double game. Belgrade has actively strengthened its ties with Russia. At the same time, Serbia’s strategic goal was European integration, with very vague prospects. Many people did not like this approach, but we all know what Western “partners” do to unwanted governments. The coronavirus and the highly questionable reaction of the European Union actually gives Serbia a reason to close the European issue. Yes, now Brussels is desperately reminded of the trenches sent to Belgrade in good times. But, as they say, friends are in trouble and here the EU has made as much of a breakthrough as in Italy.
Of course, when the pandemic is over, the European elites will try to pretend that nothing happened by wearing expensive suits and rushing to the stands with beautiful new speeches. Big deal, a fleeting moping. Only the restoration of the old decorations will not save any more.
Now, in the European expert community the behavior of the Western world is called “moral bankruptcy”. But that statement is only partially true. Moreover, it is convenient, because you can always apologize for questioning the notorious ideals. At the very least, one can fire someone, change the president, change the government. However, it is important to understand that the very system that the West has been building for decades has shown failure. NATO, the EU, democracy, liberal values, ostentatious solidarity – all this has turned out to be absolutely useless in the face of the enemy, even if not quite habitual.
Eugene Gaman, especially for News Front.