The president's first visit Ukraine to Serbia from 2018, could mark a new chapter in the relations between the two countries, and that is why the Kyiv Independent portal, among other things, asks what Serbia benefits from the visit Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelenski's visit took place at a particularly difficult moment for Vučić's domestic political position.
For a long time, Serbia has been rocked by the largest anti-government movement in the last few years, which began after the collapse of the concrete canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad, when 16 people died in November 2024.
What started as a student movement grew into a broader challenge to Vučić's rule. In June, tens of thousands of demonstrators across Serbia demanded early elections. The President of Serbia recently said that he intends to retire before the end of his presidential term.
Brussels has also stepped up criticism. The European Commission announced that the reforms in Serbia have slowed down significantly and called on Belgrade to stop the regression in the area of freedom of expression. Earlier this year, the EU suspended payments to Serbia due to controversial changes in the Serbian judiciary.
The fact that Serbia is approaching extraordinary elections made the moment of Zelenski's visit even more significant, according to Nikola Burazer, program director of the Belgrade Center for Contemporary Politics.
"Vučić successfully implemented the strategy of conducting one policy at home and another in the West. Zelensky's visit is part of a policy that causes little controversy in the country, but potentially brings significant benefits in the West," Burazer told the Kyiv Independent.
One of those benefits could be progress in the slow process of Serbia's accession to the EU.
"Opening Cluster 3 in negotiations with the EU would not bring Serbia closer to membership, but it would mitigate one of the main criticisms of the opposition," added Burazer.
Florian Biber, professor of history and politics of Southeast Europe at the University of Graz, sees the same calculation. Faced with pressure at home and increased EU scrutiny, Vučić is trying to present himself as "indispensable" to the West.
"This is a long-standing strategy of Vučić to position himself internationally in a way that distracts from his authoritarian rule. It is clear that he is more concerned about his position abroad than domestic criticism from nationalist and pro-Russian forces," Bieber told the Kyiv Independent.
Serbia remains one of the few remaining countries in Europe that buys Russian natural gas, which indicates a dependence due to which Moscow provides about 80 percent of Serbia's total gas imports.
However, the visit did not end without a concrete result - President Vučić promised that Serbia would help rebuild "one smaller Ukrainian city or region", without providing additional details. President Zelenski thanked him in advance.
Source: Today
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