Serbia: Slavic Brotherhood exercises continue. Serbs, Russians and Belorussians respond to NATO

(To Giampiero Venturi)
07/11/16

Until November 9 in the region east of Belgrade, joint maneuvers between Serbian, Russian and Belarusian armed forces will begin Thursday 3 November. The exercise, called Slava brotherhood 2016, aims to improve the multinational tactical capabilities of fast-acting antiterrorist forces. Participating in 450 Serbian soldiers, about 200 Russians and 50 Belarusians.

The maneuvers respond to Crna Gora 2016 (Montenegro 2016), the NATO exercise held precisely in Montenegro from 31 October to November 4, prelude to the entry into the Alliance as 29 ° member of the small Balkan country, expected half 2017.

If from a military point of view the two events have a relative sense, from a geopolitical point of view they are of great importance. Podgorica's entry into NATO is strongly contested by Moscow and Belgrade (v. article). Together with Serbia, with which it established a confederation up to 2006, Montenegro is the former Yugoslav republic historically more connected to Russia. Despite the cultural proximity, the Orthodox majority and the widespread use of the Cyrillic especially in the inner regions, the march towards the west in recent years has continued. In the parliamentary elections of 16 last October, the victory of Prime Minister Djuganovic further accelerated the trend by giving a signal to the international community.

The internal and external resistances, however, are enormous. In this regard, in these hours, the Kremlin denies the involvement in the alleged coup attempt, according to voices organized in the election days by local, Serbian and Russian ultra nationalist groups, with the aim of preventing the Western drift of Podgorica .

Behind the scenes of joint military maneuvers, therefore, more far-reaching drawings are hidden and the need to reaffirm spheres of influence that recall ancient tastes in the Balkan theater. 

Serbia, albeit poised on a Europeanist horizon, is characterized by its traditional friendship with Moscow, very marked even in the days of freezing between Russia and Yugoslavia. Through a never-ending panslavo sentiment, today strong resistance is re-aligned with an Atlantic design, which with the enlargement to Montenegro closes the circle practically throughout Eastern Europe: except for Bosnia, a country sui generis in terms of cohesion national (v. reportage), the only nation out of NATO in the near future will be only Serbia. The data is not accidental: in virtue of the historical link between Belgrade and Moscow, in 2010 a military collaboration agreement was signed between Serbia and Russia that restores the Russian supervision of the Serbian identity, whose inaction was one of the causes of the tragedy of the 90 years in the former Yugoslavia. Precisely in the 2010, on the outskirts of Niš, in Serbia, (where the emperor Constantine was born, editor's note), a center for emergencies and natural disasters began, inaugurated jointly by Serbian and Russian armed forces.

Slav Brotherhood it has reached its third edition (last year it took place in Russia, in the 2014 in Ruma in Serbia) and foresees the use of special forces parachuted, assaults on terrorist bases, rapid evacuation of injured and other emergency activities. Serbia deploys unity of the Specijalna brigada, which gathers special forces with a long tradition, like the former ex-63a Brigata (later Battaglione), which enjoy international fame. The Russians take par of the 98a Paratroopers Division with BMD-2 vehicles (suitable for launches), unmanned vehicles, aircraft and land reconnaissance vehicles.

The West observes carefully, trying not to lose contact with Belgrade and at the same time not to dramatize.

The maneuvers are indicative of a tangible transnational tension in Eastern Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Montenegro's entry into the Atlantic Alliance would close all access to the Adriatic to the Russians (Croatia and Albania are already members), but the ongoing elections in Bulgaria could bring Sofia (the only country that uses Cyrillic in the EU) to look East .

Will the Balkans be the wake of the friction that the US and Russia are developing elsewhere? Much depends on the strength and credibility of the European Union in the near future.

(photo: Bojcka Србије)