Hodges: By giving up military exercises, Serbia has shown that it is ready to resist: the Society

The former commander of the US ground forces in Europe, Ben Hodges, said that the Serbian authorities’ decision to temporarily suspend participation in military exercises shows some courage in Belgrade.

Photo: Ministry of Defense

Hodges, an associate at the Washington Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told Voice of America that the decision shows Serbia’s ability to be independent and follow its own course, when it wants.

“So that should send a positive message to the European Union and the United States, which is willing to resist other pressures that make it difficult to find some kind of solution in relations with Pristina,” General Hodges said.

On Wednesday, the Serbian government decided to suspend all military exercises and activities with all partners for the next six months to preserve the position of military neutrality.

Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin stated at the time that Serbia made that decision after “terrible and undeserved” pressure from the European Union.

Serbia was supposed to participate in the “Slavic Brotherhood” military exercise in Belarus, with the host country’s army and Russia. Serbia canceled its participation the day before the soldiers’ departure for Belarus.

Hodges says he is convinced that Serbia has been under “significant pressure” from Russia for years.

“The Kremlin has always made it difficult for the Serbian authorities when Serbian forces participated in exercises with NATO, Western or American forces.” The West, on the other hand, has never exerted pressure or interfered when Serbian armed forces participated in exercises with Russia and Belarus, “he said.

Hodges added that “it is the sovereign right of each nation to take the measures that it deems most appropriate for its interests and that contribute more to its security and progress.”

He added that he “respects Serbia’s right to carry out military exercises with whomever it wants.”

According to data from the specialized portal Balkan Security Network, last year Serbia carried out 17 joint military exercises, 13 with NATO and other countries, and four with Russia.

In one of them, last year’s exercise “The Slavic Brotherhood”, the Russian S-400 missile system was shown for the first time outside the territory of Russia, in Serbia.

Hodges suggested the possibility of Serbia inviting Belarus to bilateral exercises.

And then in the future join members of the American, British or Polish army, that is, members of the armed forces of Western countries. Change the dynamics and give Belarus the opportunity to meet members of the Western armed forces. “They don’t have to be Russian vassals, although sadly it seems that is what the Kremlin wants,” the former senior US official said.

Serbia recently joined the EU Joint Declaration on Belarus, adopted after Belarusian protesters questioned the official results of the presidential elections, according to which former head of state Alexander Lukashenko convincingly won.

In the statement, the European Union condemns the violence of the Lukashenko regime against protesters, the threat to freedom of expression and assembly.

Hodges says that “a lot of good things can happen if Serbia continues down this path and if the West remains committed to strategic investment in the Serbian economy in the long term.”

“It is very important that the United States and the EU cooperate with Serbia and remain committed to its western integration. The main winners will be the youth of Serbia,” Hodges told Voice of America.

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