Serbia does not give up Russian gas, Kosovo "denounces" it

Serbia does not give up Russian gas, despite calls from the West to join them in imposing sanctions. The approach of the northern neighbor has been denounced by the leaders of Kosovo and criticized by those of the EU for allowing Serbia to be with both the West and the East. During the debate on this, the opposition reminded the Kurti Government of its refusal to be involved in the gas projects supported by the United States

Serbia continues to expand its cooperation with Russia, despite calls from the West for it to align itself with them in rejecting Russian products and imposing sanctions. The agreement of the day before with Russia, from which the northern neighbor will be supplied with natural gas, was reached after a phone call between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

A day after the agreement, the Commissioner for EU Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, and the MEP, Viola von Cramon, stayed in Belgrade.

After the meeting, Cramon is reported to have asked Vucic to get out of Russia's clutches.

"It is not up to us from the EU to impose this, but the decision must come from within, from the Serbian Government, with their understanding that if they want to be part of the EU, this goes with the values ​​and standards that include the implementation of sanctions", said Cramon, who is the rapporteur for Kosovo in the EU.

She has also repeated the request of the Greens of Europe for the closure of the Russian Humanitarian Center in Nis.

"Of course we are worried about the Humanitarian Center in Nis. It is not just a demand of the Greens. We want to see the reduction of Russian influence and the withdrawal of Russian diplomats and institutions from Serbia. You can't be under the influence of someone who is waging a bloody war on the edge of Europe", the reporter Cramon emphasized.

Time's correspondent from Brussels, Augustin Palokaj, says that the EU is disappointed with Serbia's rapprochement with Russia. But he emphasized that at the moment they do not mention concrete sanctions that Belgrade can face.

"Diplomats from member countries point out that Serbia can forget about the European future if it continues to have a strategic partnership with Putin's regime in Russia. How the dissatisfaction of the European Union will be manifested can be seen in the coming days, but in the EU they do not rule out any possibility. However, the countries that want to become members are required to respect European values, and they are Russia's opposition at this moment and its aggression against Ukraine," said Palokaj.

According to Vucic, in connection with the agreement which is on the table, in addition to Moscow, the centers of the West, as well as Ukraine, on which the Russian aggression is continuing, have been notified.

Vucic thanked Russia for offering him a new long-term contract with favorable conditions for gas supply.

"We have agreed to sign the first element of the three-year contract, which is extremely convenient for the Serbian side and that the platform will remain the same, so the price will be very favorable. It remains to discuss the quantity with Gazprom. Putin, due to the industrialization of the country in recent years, has had more gas consumption, but we will talk with 'Gazprom' and we will have a safe winter depending on the conversation. I am grateful to our Russian partners for the correctness", said Vucic.

According to reports, the price of gas that Serbia will buy from the Russian "Gazprom" is currently three times lower than the price at which other European countries buy this material, while in winter this price will be ten to 12 times lower.

Vuçiqi has said that the price is expected to be 340 to 350 dollars for 1000 cubic meters of gas, but "this is not the final price, because it will depend on the quantity that will be sent".

He emphasized that they agreed on the price for the supply of 2.2 billion cubic meters of gas per year and added that Serbia needs another 800 million cubic meters due to the development of the industry.

The prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, also commented on the agreement. He said that Putin and Vučić no longer even need to meet, as they reach agreements through telephone conversations.

"They don't even need to meet anymore: agreements between Putin and Vucic are now reached through phone conversations," Kurti wrote on Twitter, and attached the news of a conversation that Vucic and Putin had on November 25, 2021.

Meanwhile, Blerim Vela, chief of staff of the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, said that instead of aligning positions with the EU, Serbia is cooperating with Russia, as he asked how long the European Union will tolerate this behavior Serbia.

"Putin and Vučić agreed in a phone call today that Russia will continue to supply Serbia with natural gas and the two countries will continue to strengthen their partnership. Serbia, an EU candidate country, instead of aligning sanctions with the EU, deepens cooperation with Russia. How long will the EU tolerate this?" Vela wrote.

But, according to the opposition, the most powerful response against the Vucic-Putin agreement would be the decision of the Government of Kosovo to join the gas pipeline project supported by the US, which it has refused to do until now.

"The government should read the situation against this cooperation between Serbia and Russia. We had our strategic partners in the USA. We estimate that the Kurti Government has made some wrong steps in relation to the USA. It was the gas issue. The transition from the gas pipeline project to the battery project was a strategic and colossal mistake made by the Government", said Abelard Tahiri, head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party (PDK), after the Presidency meeting on Monday.

Besnik Tahiri, head of the parliamentary group of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), has also been critical.

"The government had to make a decision about the American gas pipeline today. This would be our best answer, against this action of Serbia", said Tahiri.

As part of efforts to find other alternatives outside of Russian gas, the leaders of the Balkans earlier this month met in Greece. The agreement was reached between the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacheski, the Bulgarian one, Kiril Petkov, and the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, gave impetus to this project, in which Kosovo is not included.

"We are also sanctioning Russia to put financial, economic and political pressure on it, because our goal is simple: We must break the Russian war machine," said Michel. "I am confident that the Council will immediately impose other sanctions, especially on Russian oil."

Michel made the comments as the EU struggles to build a consensus on Russian oil sanctions, with Hungary and Slovakia still opposed.

The EU and the US support the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline as they see it as an opportunity to improve energy security and diversify European gas markets, which are dominated by Russian gas.

At the moment, the government of Kosovo has not shown interest in the construction of the gas network that would connect Kosovo with North Macedonia.

The project for the construction of the gas infrastructure with North Macedonia was supposed to be done with the support of the American agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), with loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as from the Investment Framework for the Balkans Western (WBIF). This project was expected to cost Kosovo 600 million euros, which, according to the Government, was not economically advantageous.

On the other hand, Serbia is part of gas projects that are supported by the West, such as the one that was discussed in Greece.

Serbia and Belarus are among the only countries in Europe that have not imposed sanctions on Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Some European countries have already cut off supplies from the Russian state.

On May 21, Finland confirmed that Russia had suspended the pipeline after the Nordic country refused to pay in rubles for gas purchased from Gazprom.

Russia has also suspended gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, which have refused to pay in rubles for Russian energy.