The Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) raises the question of whether Serbia's policy of balancing between eastern and western powers has begun to waver and whether Serbia is actually serving as a Russian base for the destabilization of Europe.
At the beginning of the article, the author claims that the authorities in Serbia "were relieved when the elections in Moldova a little over a week ago passed without major incidents." He then recalls that the police in Moldova carried out 250 raids and arrested 74 people on the eve of the elections, Deutsche Welle writes.
"According to Moldovan authorities, the detainees were trained in camps in Serbia. There, they were allegedly trained in tactics and methods of attack and resistance to security forces. Moldova sees Russia as the organizer, who wants to prevent the pro-European course of this small country."
The Swiss newspaper further writes: "The accusations gained weight when four days after the raids in Moldova, Serbian security forces arrested two people. The two Serbs are suspected of having organized paramilitary training for 150 to 170 Moldovans and Romanians between July 16 and September 12." The text says that after these arrests, it seemed as if Serbia had avoided a diplomatic disaster. "However, Belgrade - which maintains close ties with Moscow - now has to face a very unpleasant question: is Serbia serving as a base for Russian efforts to destabilize Europe?"
The author suggests a positive answer to the question, citing another example of destabilizing activity rooted in Serbia: "On Monday, three days after the first two arrests, the Serbian Interior Ministry announced that police had arrested eleven more people, all Serbs. They are suspected of placing severed pig heads in front of several mosques in Paris in early September. Also, between April and September, they are suspected of throwing green paint (the color of Islam) at Jewish institutions such as the Holocaust museum and several synagogues in the greater Paris area."
The Swiss newspaper cites a statement from the Serbian Interior Ministry, according to which individuals suspected of having been trained in Serbia for such actions were arrested "on the orders of a foreign intelligence service." Their alleged aim was "to incite hatred, discrimination and violence against people of different origins, skin color or religion," Deutsche Welle writes.
The article recalls that France in June accused three Serbs of a paint attack on a Jewish institution and that France, like Moldova, suspects Russia of being the organizer of these actions.