The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Živadin Jovanović believes that Serbia may not allow the officials of the United States of America to humiliate it and treat it as some sort of a convict, and that for this reason they should not let the action of the United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken slide in silence, who in a recent phone conversation with Aleksandar Vučić “brought the President of Serbia up to speed with the necessity of reaching an agreement with Priština quickly”.

Commenting on this message by Blinken from the announcement of the President of Serbia’s press service after his conversation with the United States Secretary of State, Jovanović assessed that it was an inappropriate and threatening form of communication.

“Washington is not a courtroom for Serbia, nor is Serbia a convict being held in detention for the United States officials to speak to it that way. There is no argument that Serbia has to kneel and accept the humiliation, it must be prepared to preserve its freedom,” said Jovanović to Srna.

In his opinion, Serbia must defend Kosovo and Metohija politically, legally, diplomatically and by any means possible, and there may not be any hesitation or mercantilism there, to give that up for the sake of investments or energy supplies, because the existence of a country and its freedom are values that have to be preserved at any cost.

Commenting on the ever increasing pressure on Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia, the attitude of certain politicians that Serbia would lose Kosovo unless it does so, as well as the announcement by the state leadership that they may come to change the current policy in the event that the damage incurred by not imposing sanctions on Moscow outweighs the benefit, which is not the case for now, Jovanović pointed out that this was no way to speak about such a significant partner as the Russian Federation.

It is his belief that Blinken’s ultimate-giving tone is a consequence of such attitudes, and especially the message that “Russia does not understand Serbia enough,” which were being sent from certain levels in Belgrade.

“Even if it were true that Russia did not understand us, which I do not believe, the question is whether this is the way to communicate with a strategic partner such as the Russian Federation, where we are sending messages to one another through the media,” said Jovanović.

According to him, it is not a coincidence that Blinken gave a call to the President of Serbia a day or two after the trial balloon was released from Belgrade with the message that Russia did not understand Serbia.

“Then Blinken calls on the behalf of the NATO and the United States and threatens the President of Serbia. Whoever it is that publicly says that Russia does not understand Serbia enough is sending a message to Brussels, Washington and London: “Come here, we are putting ourselves at your disposal! Russia does not understand us and we are prepared to join you,” assessed Jovanović.

According to Jovanović, Washington has treated the President of Serbia as a judge, who is letting Vučić know what the court ruled.

“If he [Blinken] truly said that he brought the president up to speed in that manner, then he relayed the decisions of some sort of a judiciary council on its behalf. It turns out that there is some kind of a judiciary council presided by the United States, and on whose behalf someone lets Serbia know that it must do this or that,” Jovanović pointed out.

It is his belief that the way in which Blinken addressed Vučić reduces Serbia to the level of an object in international relations, instead of a subject and a former military ally of the United States.

Jovanović says that it now seems as though Serbia was not on the winning side in the First and Second World War, and as though it hatched yesterday, thanks to the good will of the Ottoman Empire or Austria-Hungary.

“Serbia was not made by the Ottoman Empire nor Austria-Hungary, and It was not made by the United States either, for them to give it commands. This is about whether Serbia wishes to exist or not. Serbia has never kneeled or surrendered in its history, not in 1914, nor in 1941, and so now it must defend its freedom and independence at any cost,” said Jovanović.