Zivadin Jovanovic, Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals
Belgrade, December 2nd, 2013.


A lot of dust has been produced lately over a statement of the Russian ambassador in Belgrade Alekxander Chepurin who, according to press reports, stated that Serbia’s accession to NATO would not be acceptable to Russia. Such a statement coincided with the results of independent pull of public opinion showing that about 75% of Serbia’s population is against membership of Serbia in NATO, and that only about 14% are in favor of accession. The rest are undecided.

Zivadin Jovanovic, president of Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals and forme Foreign minister of FR of Yugoslavia, is quated in today’s Belgrade daily “Politika”- that in Serbia it has become very stretchable what is acceptable behavior of foreign diplomats and what is not, what is good or ill intended statement, what is diplomacy and what is blatant medaling. A country whose government invites foreign ambassador to take part at its meetings, as it was the case of USA ambassador participating at the Serbian Government meeting, can hardly hope to be respected, to have foreign diplomats strictly complying with diplomatic principles and norms.

Serbian government reminds Jovanovic, has usualy been silent about western ambassadors’ statements undermining sovereignty and integrity of the country. Serbia’s government did invite leaders of foreign country to mediate between political parties. Former USA ambassador was lecturing professors at the Law Faculty of Belgrade University that, when writing their books and teaching students, they should not use such terms as “NATO 1999. aggression”, “NATO crimes”, “Albanian UCK terrorists” and alike. German ambassador in Belgrade was publically advising all parents in Serbia that they should teach their children that NATO by bombarding the country over 78 days in 1999 (killing about 4.000, wounding about 10.000, using missiles with depleted uranium, causing damage of about 120 billion of USD) did only help the people of Serbia, their wellbeing, their right to democracy and bright future! A country whose government silently accepts such offending behavior, whose officials rush to foreign ambassadors to seek advices or to prey for mercy, cannot count that those foreign diplomats, will respect diplomatic norms and behavior. Just opposite, such a government in fact invites foreign ambassadors to meddle in internal affairs of the country deeper and deeper, they start behaving like toward a country without sovereignty and self-esteem.

Producing the dust over certain words used recently by the Russian ambassador in Belgrade, so called independent media and West-financed NGO-s, in fact, create a curtain behind which ambassadors of a number of western countries continue to meddle in Serbian government business. Why these same media and NGO-s have not reacted over “Quinta” (USA, GB, Germany, France, and Italy) forming the “Group of Friends of Sandzak” (Southwestern region of Serbia populated by Serbs and Bosniaks)? Are not “Quinta’s” members supposed to be friends of the whole of Serbia, instead of only of one region? After all, they are accredited as representatives of sovereign states, not of, say, of New Mexico, or Bavaria, or Korzika, or Lombardia! It is not Russia who bombarded Serbia in 1999, who continues to fragment Serbia today, but NATO countries. It is not Russia who has been supporting terrorist UCK over decades and who supports former UCK commander Hashim Tachi in so called negotiations over Province of Kosovo and Metohija, in Bruxels, but USA, Great Britain and Germany! It is not Russia who has recognized illegal, unilateral secession of Prishtina, but NATO and EU member countries. It is not Russia who links credit lines and investments to political concessions undermining sovereignty of Serbia, but the NATO and EU member countries. It is…

So, let us not be forgettable, confused, nor naïve.