Defeat of fascism: Putin's visit to Serbia strikes on European leaders' nerves

© REUTERS/ Marko Djurica

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses during a military parade to mark 70 years since the city's liberation by the Red Army as Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic (R) looks on in Belgrade October 16, 2014.

President Putin's visit to Serbia has received a sour reception from the EU. Though official comment has been muted (it is not as if there is anything to complain about), commentary in European media clearly expresses EU annoyance.

Why should this be so? Why should European leaders be upset that a Russian leader attends a ceremony in celebration of his country's liberation of a European capital from fascism?

In fact Putin's visit strikes on European nerves with a host of issues, warranting the European reaction.

At its most basic, the reminder of Russia's central role in the defeat of fascism and the liberation of Europe from Hitler's yoke is unwelcome to the leaders of certain EU states (e.g., Poland, Romania, the Baltic States) who have spent an inordinate amount of time denying or minimizing the fact and drawing false parallels between Nazism and Communism. That a European country, such as Serbia, celebrates without qualification its liberation by the Soviet army, explodes this false narrative.

Beyond this, there are more immediate political considerations linked to the Ukrainian and Yugoslav crises.

Many have noted strong resemblances between the crises in Ukraine and Yugoslavia. In both cases the EU has given unqualified support to pro-Western, Catholic, or Muslims groups in a way that turns a blind eye to their violence and human rights abuses. In both cases Orthodox Slavs are the "enemy" and Russia is seen as the adversary, some saying it is the ultimate target. The parallels are widely remarked on in Serbia and have strengthened Russian-Serbian relations.

This parallel alone would make Putin's visit a cause for concern for EU leaders.

As the results of the recent Bosnian elections have shown, the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s have surrounded Serbia with small, unstable, economically unviable statelets, whilst leaving Serbia with claims and grievances against all of them. This situation is by definition unstable and is sustained in an unhappy equilibrium by the constant application of Western power. In order to ensure permanence of the settlement the West has imposed, Western powers (primarily the EU) have spent the last decade bullying Serbia into accepting their resolutions in return for promises of eventual EU membership. However, accepting the Western settlement comes for Serbia with the price not just of abandoning forever historic Serb lands, and the Serbs who live in them, but of conforming to the West's narrative of the Yugoslav wars.

Putin's presence in Belgrade reminds Serbs both of the falsity of this narrative, and of the fact that Russia is a powerful friend. Not only did Russia extensively support the Serbs throughout the Yugoslav wars , but it continues to support Serbia's claims to Kosovo. The fact that Russia has successfully resisted similar Western pressures during the Ukrainian crisis shows that it is strong enough to look after itself. Not surprisingly, this emboldens Serbs to resist the Western pressure that is continuously applied on them.

Beyond these important strategic considerations, there are more immediate factors. At a time when EU leaders are trying to isolate Russia by imposing sanctions upon it, it is infuriating that a European country so friendly to Russia should wish to cooperate economically with it.

Serbia does not conceal its support for South Stream, a project Ukraine's supporters within the EU, including in the EU Commission, have been attempting to block.

Further down the road, there is also the unspoken concern that with Serbia's request for EU membership proceeding at a snail's pace, there is a risk that Serbia may turn to Russia instead.

For some EU leaders it has become a fundamental dogma that the EU should expand to encompass all European states, except Russia. That Serbia might stand aside from this process and side with Russia instead is for such people infuriating since it utterly contradicts their worldview, which demands that all European nations choose Europe over Russia. Anti-Russian commentators often like to say that nations voluntarily choose to join the EU, but are forced to join with Russia (for example in the new Eurasian Union). If Serbia was to choose a long-term alignment with Russia rather than the EU such a dogma would swiftly be discredited.

Therefore not surprisingly, the EU leadership is displeased by Putin's visit to Belgrade. The Serbs however have substantial reasons to be pleased. The EU is reminded that Serbia has a powerful friend and that its freedom of action is greater than the EU would like it to be.