According to reports by foreign media, a Serbian diplomatic delegation was the only one from Europe to attend a reception at the Embassy of Afghanistan in India, organized to mark the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power. These media reports immediately sparked strong reactions from parts of the opposition, who say that such moves are distancing Serbia from the European Union and leading it into international disgrace.
A reception was recently held in the Indian capital to mark the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s armed return to power in Afghanistan. The event in New Delhi was marked as “Victory Day,” and according to reports by certain media outlets and posts that appeared on social media, a representative of Serbia was among the guests.
Although the media reports did not specify the name or rank of the Serbian diplomat who allegedly attended the event, nor has a photograph confirming this been published so far, the information that Serbia was the only European country to have a representative at the reception quickly reverberated in the Serbian public.
According to the same reports, no representatives of European Union countries attended the reception, while diplomats from Russia, China, Iran, Palestine, Bhutan, Eritrea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Niger, Qatar and Oman were among those present.
The information that a Serbian representative attended a reception hosted by the Taliban prompted reactions from opposition representatives.
Stefanović: With the Taliban into isolation and disgrace
Borko Stefanović, deputy president of the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), said in his reaction that the Progressives are clearly showing through such moves who their role models are and how they envision Serbia’s future.
“Meanwhile, in the shadow of more important developments, the Progressives managed to send a diplomatic representative of our embassy in India to a reception at the embassy of Taliban Afghanistan, held on the occasion of the Taliban’s ‘Victory Day,’ as the representative of the only European country,” Stefanović wrote.
He added that the government was undermining its own claims about strategic partnerships with the West in this way.
“The clusters are opening by themselves, the strategic partnership with the U.S. is removing all obstacles, while the Progressives are showing who their role models are and how they envision our future. With the Taliban into isolation and disgrace,” Stefanović concluded.
Ponoš: “We’re nailing” alignment with the EU
Zdravko Ponoš, president of the Serbia Centre (SRCE) party, also commented on the diplomatic scandal.
He shared the information on the social network X, ironically commenting on the official state narrative regarding European integration and alignment of foreign policy.
“We’re nailing this alignment with EU foreign policy,” Ponoš briefly wrote alongside a list of countries whose representatives, according to media reports, attended the reception.
Given that, by the time this article was published, there had been neither official confirmation nor denial of the Serbian delegation’s participation in an event celebrating a regime under international sanctions, the Nova.rs portal sent official questions to the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in New Delhi and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
We asked the relevant institutions to explain whether the media reports were accurate and, if so, at what level Serbia was represented and what diplomatic interests guided its participation.
However, no responses to our questions were received.
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Source: Nova.rs, Foto: AP / Siddiqullah Alizai