As of: February 21, 2024, 1:33 p.m
By: Florian Naumann
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Press
Split
Alexei Navalny's death is making waves - even in pro-Russian parts of Europe.
After the Siko, Serbia's President Vučić gets caught in the crossfire.
Munich/Sarajevo – The allegedly violent death of Putin critic Alexei Navalny has caused horror in the West.
But in parts of Europe, the events could bring an old rift to the surface again: the focus is on Serbia and Serbian-influenced parts of the Balkans.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had already caused a first stir - which was hardly noticed in the media in Germany - at the 2024 security conference in Munich.
On the one hand, there are now reports of violence against an improvised Navalny memorial in Bosnia-Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo.
On the other hand, there are also expressions of anger in the region.
A background: Especially in Serbia, the Serb-influenced Republika Srpska in Bosnia and - to a lesser extent - in parts of Montenegro's population, Russia is seen as one of the closest allies, as the Viennese political scientist Vedran Džihic recently explained
to IPPEN.MEDIA
.
But the situation seems complex.
Also because of Navalny's death.
Navalny's death has consequences: Vučić does not applaud Navalnaja - this is also noticeable at home
Pro-Russian expressions of opinion - even in the face of the war in Ukraine - are in principle nothing new in these regions.
Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there were large demonstrations in favor of Putin in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
And the political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, has also sought proximity to the Kremlin over the past two years.
Vučić in particular actually has to manage the balancing act between the EU and Moscow.
Difficult visit - also because of Alexej Navalny's death: Aleksandar Vučić at Siko 2024 in Munich.
© IMAGO/Björn Trotsky
However, he still stood out at Siko;
just at the appearance of Navalny's widow Julia.
Vučić watched the highly regarded speech by Navalny's widow from the front rows of the auditorium at the Munich Hotel Bayerischer Hof.
Like many others present, he rose to the podium when Yulia Navalnaya arrived, as video images show - but did not applaud, but rather fiddled with the headphones for the simultaneous translation.
This was well noticed at home: the Serbian portal
N1Info,
among others, reported on the remarkable scene .
Vučić initially held back from assessing Navalny's death.
But he expressed fears: “Our position will be more difficult, I have no doubt about that,” he told the TV channel
Prva
on Sunday (February 18).
Serbia's president probably doesn't have to expect much headwind in his own country.
On the one hand, the government has recently taken tough action against people who demonstrated against alleged election manipulation.
On the other hand, the attitude towards Navalny is much more controversial than in other parts of the EU.
But there were also demonstrations of grief and anger here.
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Navalny's death reveals conflicts: Anger at the memorial - angry Russians demonstrate in Belgrade
Sarajevo provided a spotlight on the situation on Monday (February 19).
Unknown people had placed pictures and flowers there in the city center in honor of the late Navalny.
A “passerby” destroyed the improvised memorial, reported the Bosnian branch of the broadcaster
N1
.
Ironically, the incident is well documented photographically.
However, "a Russian man" rearranged the expressions of condolence as far as possible - and Great Britain's ambassador Julian Reilly also visited the place, it was said.
Sarajevo's center is not part of the largely pro-Serbian and pro-Russian republic of Srpska.
However, this is only a few kilometers away.
Scene from Sarajevo: A man vandalizes a memorial for the late Alexei Navalny.
© IMAGO/Armin Durgut/PIXSELL
The incident could symbolize a division in the region.
In Serbia's capital Belgrade,
"hundreds of Russians and others" lit candles in front of the Russian embassy following the news of Navalny's death, according to a report by the
AP news agency.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, “tens of thousands” of Russians have come to Serbia.
That could now influence the mood.
The local portal Vijesti
reported on larger tributes in the form of a memorial in Montenegro's capital Podgorica
.
Navalnaya completely unknown?
Vučić explains Siko incident – Putin ally apparently under pressure
In an interview with IPPEN.MEDIA
, political scientist Džihic attested
that Serbian areas in particular have a widespread “anti-Western and anti-EU attitude”.
In Aleksandar Vučić's Serbia in particular, there is "a very strong proximity to Russia - in all aspects": for example with regard to an authoritarian style of government or offensive action against political opponents.
“At the same time, Russia is seen as one of the closest allies in these regions.”
This may be why Vučić spoke of a “more difficult position” for his country after Navalny’s death – he did not want to completely oppose the wave of protest.
The Serbian president said he was “horrified” by Navalny’s death.
However, his decision not to applaud Navalnaya was simply an unfortunate editing sequence of the video broadcast from Munich: Vučić confirmed his actions indirectly on national TV.
His explanation: He didn't know Navalnaya.
“Suddenly a woman sat next to me and I had no idea who she could be,” he said on
Prva
, as
Euronews
noted.
It is also noteworthy that the scene triggered very different interpretations: The
Politico
portal focused primarily on the fact that Vučić had stood up for Navalnaya - that would not have gone unnoticed by Vladimir Putin, it said.
Reactions to Navalny's death in Armenia were also quite piquant for the Kremlin: in the capital Yerevan, the station
Radio Free Europe
filmed a large mourning rally.
Armenia is also traditionally a close ally of Russia.
However, a lack of support from Moscow in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan caused great disappointment there - Armenia seemed to turn more towards NATO in the fall of 2023.
Others seem to remain steadfastly at Putin's side: The AfD expressed harsh criticism of Navalnaya.
(fn)