balkaninsight.com
<http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbian-president-met-alexander-soros-amidst-anti-soros-campaign-11-20-2017>
Serbia President Holds Cordial Meeting With Soros' Son :: Balkan Insight
Maja Zivanovic
4-5 minutes
_____
Despite a continuing campaign in Serbia against rights groups linked to George
Soros, Serbia's President held an apparently friendly meeting on Monday with
his son, Alexander.
Alexander Soros. Photo: Facebook: Alexander Soros
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Monday met Alexander Soros, the son of
billionaire philanthropist George Soros and Deputy Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Open Society Foundations.
The meeting comes at a time of continuing agitation in Serbia – and other
countries in Eastern Europe – against Soros-linked groups
<http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/soros-foundation-rebuffs-balkan-governments-attacks-02-09-2017?src=ilaw>
, which Vucic's ruling party, the Serbian Progressive Party, has been accused
of encouraging.
The website of the Serbian President said that Vucic had discussed regional
cooperation, the Soros-backed Foundation for European Integration of Serbia,
reforms in the media and the rule of law in Serbia.
“President Vucic pointed out that the strategic goal and main priority of
Serbia is full membership in the European Union, and that Serbia is ready for
further reform of society and achieving European standards,” the President's
official website said.
It added that the President told Soros that “despite occasional negative
processes in the region, Serbia remains committed to resolving all open
bilateral issues with its neighbors through dialogue”.
According to the report, Alexander Soros encouraged Serbia to continue to play
“a constructive role in the stability of the Western Balkans”, and added that
his Foundation was ready to support reform processes and the development of
entrepreneurship, as well as the program of Roma integration in Serbia.
“The two interlocutors agreed that Serbia needs to continue to implement
reforms, especially those related to the rule of law”.
Since the Progressive Party came to power in Serbia in 2012, Soros-backed
groups have been often accused of financing anti-Vucic and anti-government
campaigns.
Soros is often mentioned as the sponsor of those intent on
<http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/soros-foundation-rebuffs-balkan-governments-attacks-02-09-2017>
"destabilising" the Serbian state.
Vucic himself in March told Pink TV that he believed Soros was linked to
anti-government protests both in Serbia and Russia.
“If we look at their [Russian] information, we see the same financiers, from
Soros to some others,” he said.
In the same month, a Progressive Party MP, Vladimir Orlic, said be believed
that Soros was “the father of the opposition” in Serbia.
Earlier, on January 28, Aleksandar Vulin, Serbia's Labour Minister claimed that
opposition candidates in the upcoming presidential election – which Vucic won –
were in the pay of Soros.
Also in January, the right-wing Nasi movement called for a new law that would
outlaw the work of Open Society Foundations, following the example of Russia.
Last year, a newspaper sympathetic to the government said Soros was trying to
cause “chaos” in the country.
“For the chaos in Serbia, Soros gave almost four million euros,” the tabloid
Informer claimed in August 2016. More recently, in November this year, it wrote
that “Soros and USAID are hitting Serbia”, adding: “The US is giving 2 million
dollars to bring down Vucic.”
This is not first meeting of Vucic with Soros, however. In September this year
in New York, Vucic met both George and Alexander Soros, which Vucic later said
had been “very interesting”.
“I’ve listened to them, they listened me. We did not deal with gossip, but
serious things. We exchanged views of developments in the world, Europe, in the
Balkans,” Vucic said, Insajder website reported.
Serbia is far from the only country in the region where Soros-linked groups are
routinely accused of subverting the nation and government.
The Hungarian government has regularly accused Soros of planning to flood
Europe with immigrants to subvert its identity, and recently promised to set up
a "national consultation" on Soros organisations. He has also come under attack
from politicians in Poland and Romania.
Disclosure: Open Society Foundation is one of the donors of BIRN's Balkan
Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence programme.
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