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The Kremlin is trying to "scare" the West again through the Wagner Group in the Balkans

2023-01-20 22:53:16Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The Kremlin is trying to "scare" the West again through the Wagner
The Kremlin is trying to "scare" the West again through the Wagner Group in the Balkans

In line with recent changes in the Kremlin's propaganda strategy, according to which "Russia is at collective war against the West", its mercenary "vanguard" group Wagner, known worldwide for its atrocities, is focusing its efforts on Serbia.

Recently, the possible presence of mercenaries of the Wagner group in Serbia has been discussed again in some Serbian media. US State Department adviser Derek Chollet during his tour of several Balkan countries last week expressed concerns that the Wagner Group is trying to recruit soldiers from Serbia.

On January 16, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić demanded a ban on the recruitment of Serbian citizens by the Wagner group to participate in Russia's war against Ukraine, as reported by the Reuters news agency, referring to his interview with the Serbian TV channel "Happy ".

 "Why are you calling on citizens in Serbia to join your Wagner group when you know this is against our laws?" said President Vucic.

"How many people have we lost in all kinds of wars? Let's save our country and our people. I am proud that we are a free country," he added.

Serbia prohibits its citizens from participating in foreign wars based on a law in its Criminal Code, which was amended for this purpose in 2014. Two new criminal offenses were added to the law, participation in a war in a country of foreign and organizing participation in war in a foreign country.

THE ATTEMPT TO "LAND THE WAGNER GROUP" IN THE BALKANS WAS UNSUCCESSFUL

Mr. Vucic's statement was preceded by a series of steps from the Kremlin.

Shortly before Mr. Vučić spoke, the Kremlin-controlled propaganda channel "RT" opened a website for broadcasting news in the Serbian language, called "RT Balkan".

The editor-in-chief of "RT Balkan", Elena Milinchich announced that the new project "will cover the most important regional and world events from an alternative perspective", Mediasat.info reported.

Later, information about the possible presence of Russian mercenaries in the north of Kosovo was published by a part of the media in Serbia and the region, in which it was said that masked persons with signs of the Russian military mercenary group were seen near the barricades.

Similar claims have been made by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.

But despite these claims, the presence of Russian mercenaries in the north of Kosovo has not been officially confirmed.

"It is a notorious lie that members of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner have participated in setting up barricades in Kosovo," the president of Serbia told the "Happy" TV channel, according to a report by the "FoNet" news agency.

Ruslan Trad, security researcher at the Atlantic Council, says that in reality, “Serbia has never benefited from a 'real' escalation of the situation in Bosnia and Kosovo. Belgrade benefits from 'the impression that there is an escalation of the situation'. This game of Mr. Vucic contributes to the development of relations with the West, and not at all with Russia, which needs a real conflict in the Balkans, as it suits its policy, especially against the background of the war in Ukraine."

Meanwhile, "RT Balkan" openly published on its website an announcement of the Wagner group on the recruitment of fighters for the war in Ukraine, where it was said that they would be offered "very attractive" conditions.

"The Wagner group operates not only as a fighting formation, but also as a 'brand of propaganda campaigns to spread panic' due to its notorious reputation. Since this group is 'present' in Syria and Africa, its name is known all over the world, so the use of the Wagner group for propaganda is clear because it is intended to serve as a method of intimidation. The recent footage of the execution of a former Wagner group mercenary and the subsequent delivery of a large bloody hammer to the EU suggests that this group likes the attention and notoriety it draws from its efforts to intimidate and influence others." , says Roman Osadchuk, an expert on security issues at the Atlantic Council.

In response to the request of the Serbian language service of the Voice of America, a statement was published on the "Prigozhin_Hat" Telegram channel on behalf of Yevgeny Prohibit, the founder of "PMC Wagner", which states that the group "has never been to Serbia and that there are no Serbs in its ranks now and there have been no Serbian members in its ranks for a long time."

NEW PROPAGANDA, SAME ACTORS

According to the professor of journalism and public diplomacy Philip Seib, due to the fatigue of the world public opinion on the news about the actions of the Kremlin's military, the attention to the aggressive Russian rhetoric decreased. For this reason, Moscow, during the last months of 2022, began to use the traditional Soviet rhetoric, that of the clash between the West and Russia, trying to arouse fear of a general war through the use of media propaganda.

Roman Osadchuk agrees that if at first, Moscow used a number of strange reasons to explain the start of the war, the Kremlin has now decided that "the time has come" for "large-scale military tone content".

However, the Balkans is a region with special features. Historically, elites have preferred to take their time, realizing that they are in the middle of a crossroads of interests and influence. Thus, Serbia, presenting itself as "brotherly" to the Russian people, has always maintained cooperation both with China and the countries of the Western Balkans.

Ruslan Trad, researcher at the Atlantic Council, questioned the effectiveness of the Kremlin's propaganda campaign in the Balkans and Southeast Europe.

"The question that arises is, does Russia have a real benefit from the propaganda it is doing? For example, if we judge the pro-Russian statements in countries like Bulgaria, the population there should be overwhelmingly pro-Russian, but polls last year after the war in Ukraine showed that 50 percent of the population had a negative attitude towards the policies of Kremlin", he said.

CURRENT DANGER

Ruslan Trad believes that for Serbian leaders the main problem should be quite clear, the possibility of citizens who were mercenary fighters returning to Serbia.

"This military personnel is already part of the ideological rhetoric that the Kremlin has spread in Serbia and the Balkans. For example, when they go to Donbas, they do not go only for money, but on the contrary, because of their ideological views. After returning, these people join older organizations that are run by a paramilitary culture. People from this segment of society very rarely leave such circles and in many countries, such as Serbia, they are constantly monitored", Mr. Trad underlines.

The threat is greater due to the continued presence of individuals associated with the Wagner group in Serbia. Roman Osadchuk said that they are deeply integrated into Russia's defense system and use the means and equipment of the Russian Armed Forces.

Mr. Trad is convinced that the Kremlin may try to encourage the creation of more extremist groups among the elite of Serbia and neighboring countries, in order to influence the political escalation.

According to the "Politico" website, Wagner has also sent someone to Belgrade and announced that he officially started the activity in Serbia at the beginning of December. The activity is focused on opposing the activity of the Russian diaspora that rejects Mr. Putin's policies.

Some individuals in Europe refer to them as "PMC Wagner", the private army of President Putin.

According to a Kommersant newspaper report, the pro-European opposition in Russia insists that the activity of "PMC Wagner" is contrary to the laws and the Constitution of Serbia.

In addition, the Belgrade Security Forum called on the authorities "to stop as soon as possible the activities of the PMC on the territory of Serbia, to revoke the licenses of all media that provide information on their activities, and to bring to justice all the people who are helping them in Serbia. If this does not happen, according to the representatives of the forum, the Serbian authorities would be considered responsible for "rejecting European integration" and agreeing to "the shameful role of this Russian segment in Europe".

In a recent interview with the Serbian Voice of America Service, Leon Hartwell, an analyst at the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), echoed the concerns of the senior US official, Chollet.

"Given Russian aggression against Ukraine and the role of the Wagner Group, Russia's malign presence in other parts of the world is receiving much more attention. Washington has been concerned about Wagner's presence in Serbia for a long time. In light of of another possible wave of Russian military mobilizations - it is important that such threats are addressed and resolved. I think this is one way to once again send the message to Aleksandar Vučić that he has to choose between side will line up," says Mr. Hartwell./ VOA


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