The President of Serbia has promised punishment for Serbian mercenaries who fight on the side of Russia in the PMC “Wagner”

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić informed that the Serbian mercenaries from the PMC "Wagner" will be punished after returning home. He criticizes the recruitment of Serbian citizens by the "Wagnerians".

Vučić reported on this in an interview with Politico.

"Serbs who were recruited to fight in Ukraine will be arrested when they return home and are within the reach of our institutions," the president noted.

According to him, "friendly countries do not act like that" — that is, they do not recruit citizens of other countries. Vučić was referring to Russia and noted that he does not need the support of the "Wagnerians". One of the leaders of the far-right in Serbia Damjan Knežević, who supports PMC Wagner" and is involved in recruitment, is currently holding protests against the plan to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Also, Vučić again emphasized that Serbia supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

"And even today I can confirm to you that Crimea, Donbas, Kherson are all Ukraine," he explained.

However, Vučić noted that his complaint and the complaint of the majority of Serbs that there are double standards in the West and the territorial integrity of Serbia are less important to him.

• In Serbia, a lawsuit was filed against the Russian "Private Military Company of Wagner". The reason was the recruitment of Serbs for the war in Ukraine. According to a lawyer from Belgrade Cedomir Stojkovic among the accused are the Russian ambassador to Serbia Oleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko and Aleksandar Vulin, the head of the Serbian State Security and Information Agency (BIA).
• The Serbian authorities prohibit their citizens from participating in conflicts abroad. Several mercenaries have already been convicted for this. Despite this, Serbian volunteers participated in the war in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. According to observersʼ estimates, dozens of Serbs have signed up for the PMC "Wagner" since 2014.
• Serbia is traditionally one of Russiaʼs closest allies in Europe. It also has close economic ties with the Russian Federation. Since the beginning of the invasion, Serbia resists pressure from the European Union and does not introduce sanctions against Russia, although it is a candidate country for joining the EU and for this it must pursue a joint foreign policy with the European Union.
• On January 17, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić stated that Russia should stop recruiting Serbs to the PMC "Wagner". And the next day, he publicly condemned Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine and emphasized that Crimea and Donbas should belong to Ukraine.