A video ensures that the closely connected countries of Russia and Serbia get into a diplomatic crisis. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accused Russia of spying against their own country. "So I ask the Russian friends, I asked the (Russian) Ambassador (Alexander) Bozan-Kharchenko today: Why?" Vucic said on Thursday evening at a press conference in Belgrade. "I can not see any logic in all this," he added.
The Serbian President commented after a meeting of the National Security Council. He summoned the council because a video appeared on the Internet showing a Russian diplomat in Belgrade handing money to a suspected Serbian government official in a plastic bag. You can also see how the Serb unpacks the money in his car and briefly counts.
Vucic said that the Russian diplomat was Georgi Kleban, the former Vice Military Attaché at the Belgrade Embassy. The recipient of the money in a parking lot in the Belgrade suburb is a retired lieutenant colonel of the Serbian army. From him Vucic called only the initials. The incident is said to have occurred in December of the previous year. Kleban is no longer in Serbia.
The anonymously posted video footage had not been recorded by Serbian authorities, but they would have known about it, said Vucic. The Bulgarian investigative journalist Hristo Grosew had already identified Kleban on the video on Wednesday and assigned him to the Russian military intelligence service GRU.
Disappointment was to be considered the Serbian president
According to Vucic, the Serbian intelligence services were aware of ten meetings of Kleban with three Serbian contacts, who had three cash transfers. Overall, the intelligence services of several major states, but also those of neighboring countries in the territory of Serbia are extremely active.
The activities of the Russian diplomat should be considered in this context. Nevertheless, he was sure, Vucic added that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not informed about the events surrounding Kleban. He will never forget Putin, what he has done on the international stage for Serbia. Vucic is scheduled to meet Putin in Moscow on 4 December.
Nevertheless, the Serbian president did not hide his disappointment during the press conference. "Serbia is the only country that has not sanctioned Russia, never voted against Russia, never did anything to tarnish its friendship with Russia," he said visibly moved.
The Kremlin invokes "stable relationship"
In Moscow, people had been trying to calm down hours before. "We are sure that the relationship is so stable and fraternal that nothing can shake it," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told Tass agency, adding, "We have no idea what the incident is yet to be clarified. "
Moscow supports Belgrade in efforts to make international recognition of the former Serbian province of Kosovo more difficult. For example, the Eastern Veto Power in the UN Security Council prevents Kosovo, which is almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, from being admitted to the United Nations. Germany has recognized the independent Balkan country since 2008.