Simultaneous Game Alliance: Serbia wants to form alliances with Hungary and Slovakia
Serbia is proposing to create alliances with Hungary and Slovakia in response to an agreement on military cooperation between Croatia, Albania and the self-proclaimed Kosovo. This was stated to Izvestia by the Chairman of the Committee of the Parliament of the Republic on Diaspora and Serbs of the region, Dragan Stanojevic. NATO infrastructure continues to build up in the Western Balkans, and the new Tirana, Pristina and Zagreb agreement does not contribute to the formation of a reliable security system in the region, the Russian Embassy in Albania told Izvestia. About new alliances in the Balkans — in the material of Izvestia.
Why does Serbia need alliances with Hungary and Slovakia
Serbia is proposing to form alliances with Hungary and Slovakia in response to the agreement on military cooperation between Croatia, Albania and the self-proclaimed Kosovo, which was signed on March 18. This was stated to Izvestia by Dragan Stanojevic, Chairman of the Serbian Parliament's Committee on Diaspora and Serbs in the region.
"Serbia will also form alliances with states such as Hungary and Slovakia, that is, with states that today do not obey this Nazi pack from the European Union and Brussels," the politician noted.
Negotiations are underway with Budapest, we are talking about an agreement on mutual support and cooperation, Dragan Stanojevic notes.
— I have information that Serbia is currently negotiating with Hungary to conclude some kind of similar agreement on support, cooperation, and so on. And, in general, this may also be such a response to this provocation," Stanoevich noted.
Kosovo and Metohija are the territory of Serbia. Against the background of what is happening in the region and in the world today, no one regards this as just signing a document, it is a provocation to which there should be an appropriate reaction, said the head of the Committee on Diaspora and Serbs of the Assembly region.
The defense ministers of Albania, Croatia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo signed a declaration on defense cooperation in Tirana on March 18. The document provides for the interaction of participants in the military field, joint training and joint exercises, countering external threats, as well as the exchange of intelligence information and "coordination of policies and positions of participants with Euro-Atlantic multilateral structures in the field of security and defense." Croatia, Albania and Kosovo have expressed their willingness to involve other countries in this de facto military alliance.
In recent years, Serbia's relations with Hungary have significantly strengthened. Historically, the two nations have been at war, but in 2013, the parties achieved some reconciliation when Hungarian President Janos Ader admitted Budapest's guilt for the persecution of Serbs during World War II. Economic projects are developing between the two countries, and the Belgrade–Budapest high-speed railway is being built. Although Hungary recognized Kosovo's independence, Orban's government voted against Pristina joining the Council of Europe in 2023. In January of this year, the parties agreed to ensure the safety of the Turkish Stream after Ukraine's decision to stop the transit of Russian gas. Hungary and Serbia have also agreed on close regional cooperation to mitigate the negative effects on the energy market, even if US sanctions against the "Oil Industry of Serbia" (NIS) remain in place.
The good relations between Bratislava and Belgrade are due to the fact that Slovakia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, as do Romania, Spain, Cyprus and Greece. In addition, in October 2024, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia agreed to work to curb the flow of illegal migration. The three countries are also united by their position on Russia — they intend to strengthen economic ties with Moscow, especially in the energy sector. Serbia has not imposed sanctions against Russia, while Hungary and Slovakia comply with European restrictions, but propose to abandon their extension against the background of the dialogue between the United States and Russia.
It is important that Hungary and Slovakia are members of NATO and are obliged to obey the general decisions of the alliance, unlike Serbia, which shows no interest in joining this organization. Serbia's possible agreements with Hungary and Slovakia are instruments of diplomatic pressure, Vadim Trukhachev, an associate professor at the Russian State University of Economics, told Izvestia.
Why did Croatia, Albania and Kosovo form an alliance
The conclusion of any non-inclusive agreements in the military sphere does not contribute to the formation of a truly reliable and long-term security system in the long-suffering region, Russian Ambassador to Albania Alexei Zaitsev told Izvestia.
— The ongoing build-up of NATO infrastructure in the Western Balkans and Albania, including the opening of the first NATO tactical airbase in the Western Balkans in March 2024 in the city of Kucova (Central Albania), the planned modernization of the port of Durra, including for the needs of the United NATO Naval Forces, the participation of official Tirana in the pan-European Transport Corridor 8 project."from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea, which can also be used for military purposes, only exacerbates the already difficult situation in Europe and causes serious concern among individual states in the region," the Russian ambassador to Tirana said.
Albania's participation in this initiative is a logical continuation of its government's policy of integrating its country into Euro—Atlantic structures and synchronizing security steps with the EU's course in the European integration process, the Russian diplomat concluded.
The parties to the agreement have not officially stated who it is directed against. However, Serbia is convinced that this agreement is a provocation against Belgrade. The Serbian Foreign Ministry stressed that it "will not ignore the obvious political message of this initiative" and "will not accept it in silence." Separately, Serbian diplomats stressed that the agreement between Pristina, Tirana and Zagreb contradicts international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which confirms the territorial integrity of Serbia and guarantees the security of the people of Kosovo.
The unification of these three countries is not mainly directed against Serbia itself, because even the combined military potential of Croatia, Albania and Kosovo is weaker than that of Serbia. In a direct conflict with Belgrade, these countries will be defeated, Vadim Trukhachev noted.
"The alliance is needed to clean up Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serbs in northern Kosovo," the expert says.
Recently, the pressure on Serbia has increased significantly. In August 2022, there was another escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, when the 11-year validity period of Serbian documents for cars expired. Then there were periodic incidents of shootings and the alerting of the armed forces. In May 2023, the Kosovo authorities forcibly took control of municipal buildings in the northern part of the region.
In February 2025, the President of Republika Srpska (an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina) Milorad Dodik was sentenced by a Bosnian court to a year in prison and disqualified from holding public office for six years for failing to comply with the decision of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, the BiH Prosecutor's office demanded that the police detain Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic, as well as Chairman of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandic. And in March, the EUFOR command of the international forces in Bosnia decided to increase the number of troops stationed there.
The unification of the three countries arose immediately after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited the Balkans. Serbia is the only European country that has not joined the sanctions against Russia, and in wartime, military discipline is required from European countries, Trukhachev concluded.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
