SERBIAN GOVERNMENT ASKS RUSSIA TO STOP RECRUITING ITS CITIZENS FOR UKRAINIAN WAR

Tue 17 January 2023:

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic urged Russia to stop trying to recruit Serbs to fight alongside its paramilitary Wagner group in Ukraine.

Vucic criticized Russian websites and social media groups for posting adverts from the Wagner group, which solicits recruits to join its ranks, in the Serbian language.

“Why do you, from Wagner, call anyone from Serbia when you know that it is against our regulations?” Vucic said late on Monday in a broadcast by the Belgrade-based Happy TV.

In 2014 and 2015, Serb volunteers fought alongside pro-Russian forces in Ukraine. Numerous Serbs have enlisted to fight in Ukraine since 2014, according to analysts, no one has a clear idea of exact numbers at any one time but dozens of Serbs have signed up to fight in Ukraine since 2014.

The Serbian government prevents its nationals from taking part in conflicts abroad, and some people have received prison sentences as a result.

In Serbia, where pro-Kremlin and ultranationalist organizations have supported the invasion of Ukraine, Vucic dismissed claims that the Wagner group, led by Evgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has a presence.

On Tuesday, the RIA news agency in Russia showed television footage of two masked men identifying themselves as Serb volunteers during a weapons training camp in Ukrainian territory that was under Russian control.

Serbia is a candidate for membership in the European Union, which serves as both its principal trading partner and investor, but it also retains economic and military ties with Russia, a longtime Slavic and Orthodox Christian friend.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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