Aleksandar Vučić is a Serbian politician. He has been performing as the president of Serbia since 2017. As a member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he formerly served as the president of the SNS, first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, and prime minister of Serbia from 2014 to 2017. Vučić endorses the accession of Serbia to the EU but also desires to retain good relations with Russia. Observers have expressed Vučić’s rule as an authoritarian, autocratic or illiberal democratic regime, noting curtailed press freedom and a reduction in civil liberties.
On 24 February 2024, Croatian foreign minister Gordan Grlić-Radman depicted Vučić as a Russian “satellite” in the Balkans during an interview, adding that Vucic must choose whether to side with Russia or the European Union “because it is incomprehensible and uncomfortable posing on two chairs at the same time.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that he will continue to abstain from imposing sanctions on Russia despite force from the West adding that when it comes to connections between Serbian and Russian citizens, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Serbian government has declined– and become the only nation in Europe – to impose sanctions on Russia, despite appeals from Brussels.
Vučić has carried out traditional good relations between Serbia and Russia, and his government denied enacting sanctions on Russia, following the crisis in Ukraine and the Annexation of Crimea. Vučić has repeatedly declared that Serbia will remain committed to its European integration, but also maintain historic relations with Russia. “We have proven our sincere and friendly attitude to Russia by being one of the European countries that refused to impose sanctions on Russia,” Vučić stated after meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. “Serbia will continue pursuing this policy in the future.”
During Vučić’s mandate, Serbia has persisted in expanding its economic ties with Russia, especially by increasing Serbian exports to Russia. In early 2016, after a discussion with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Vučić revealed the possibility of Serbia boosting its military cooperation with Russia by purchasing Russian missile systems.
In December 2017, Vučić completed an official visit to the Russian Federation for the first time as the President of Serbia. He voiced his gratefulness to Russia for defending Serbian national interests, and stated that: “Serbia will never impose sanctions on the Russian Federation (concerning the international sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis)”. During his visit, he concentrated on strengthening collaboration in the domain of military industry and energy. On 25 February 2022, Vučić said Serbia would not impose sanctions against Russia during the 2022 Russian-Ukraine War.
