Serbia urges Russia to stop recruiting Serbians for war in Ukraine

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Tuesday warned Moscow to stop a Russian private military company from recruiting Serbian soldiers.

Vucic criticized websites and social media groups that publish recruitment advertisements by the Wagner Group.

"Serbia is the only country in Europe that does not impose sanctions on Russia. Russia should stop Wagner's efforts to recruit soldiers from Serbia. Such an approach is in violation of Serbian law,'' said Vucic in an interview with Happy TV.

Serbia has so far refrained from imposing sanctions on Russia but faces growing pressure because of its neutrality and reluctance.

Meanwhile, the RT news outlet recently published an advertisement in Serbian that shows Wagner is looking for fighters in Ukraine and encouraged Serbians to participate in the war.

Last week, a senior US diplomat voiced condemnation of the Russian mercenary and its activities in Serbia.

State Department Counselor Derek Chollet urged Serbia, a country with deep ties to Russian ethnicity and faith, to impose sanctions on Moscow.

The Wagner Group announced last December that it opened a cultural center in Belgrade called the Orly Center, which works to confront Russian liberals who fled Serbia and are working against Moscow.

Wagner has played an extensive role in the war in Ukraine, as well as in the 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

In 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decried Wagner mercenaries fighting in Libya in support of Khalifa Haftar, a warlord who has fought that country’s legitimate government and undermined efforts for peace and unity.