MOSCOW, Oct 26 (Reuters) – The Kremlin paid tribute to its longstanding Serbian ally Aleksandar Vucic on Monday after a student-backed protest movement pulverised his party in a parliamentary election, robbing Moscow of another important partner in Europe six months after the electoral defeat of ally Viktor Orban in Hungary.
Serbia woke to a new era on Monday after Vucic, a frequent visitor to Moscow and in Serbian politics as prime minister or president since 2014, was humbled at the ballot box in a result that sparked nationwide celebrations, although few had an idea of how the Balkan country’s new student-backed leaders would govern.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had taken note of the result, lavished praise on Vucic, and said he hoped Serbia’s new rulers realised that cooperation with Russia, traditionally a vital supplier of energy to Serbia, was in their own country’s interests.
“We greatly appreciate the contribution that Mr Vucic has made to the development of our bilateral relations. We are aware that Mr Vucic will remain active in politics, and we hope that, even while in opposition, he will continue to contribute to the development of our bilateral relations,” Peskov told reporters.
Serbia, although it has aspirations to join the European Union, did not sign up to EU-backed sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine and has continued to develop close economic, political and military ties to Moscow.
“As for the new political force that will come to power as a result of the elections, we wish to express our hope that its actions will also be constructively directed towards the further development of relations, and that these new political forces will understand that cooperation with Russia is in Serbia’s interests, because it benefits Serbia,” said Peskov.
“For our part, we intend to continue to do everything we can to foster the development of our relations with Belgrade. But, as you know, it takes two to tango,” added Peskov.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Editing by Andrew Osborn )
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