Russia Accused of 'Interfering' With Serbian Declaration

The secretary general of a small opposition liberal party in Serbia, Nova Stranka [New Party], Djordje Nakic, told BIRN that his party intends to help draw up a declaration on [the lack of] human rights in Russia - after Russia's ruling United Russia party announced it wished to help Serbs create a declaration on the preservation of Serbia's national identity.

"We think that if Russia is so concerned about us, we should be more concerned about Russia. This is called 'diplomatic reciprocity,'" Nakic said.

He added that his party will help draw up the declaration on human rights in Russia in cooperation with international NGOs and some parties in Russia itself.

The argument comes after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the President of the Bosnian Serb entity, Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, announced they will jointly draw up a  "declaration on the preservation of Serbian national identity", whose apparent goal is to preserve the Serbian nation, language and culture from decay.

During a visit by a delegation of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party to Moscow on September 14, a senior official of United Russia, Sergei Zeleznjak, said President Vladimir Putin's party wished to participate in developing the document in cooperation with colleagues from the Russian Duma and the parliaments of the Balkan states.

"We support the efforts of our Serbian colleagues in making this declaration. For our part, we are ready to do everything possible to provide party and political support, so that the contents of that document become known to the world," Zeleznjak said, according to Serbian media.

However, Nakic accused Russia of interfering in the internal affairs of Serbia, sayimng it reminded him of the says of the...