Key powers, Russia included, replacing ambassadors in Serbia
Some key world powers will be soon sending their new ambassadors to Belgrade, "especially when it comes to solving the Kosovo issue."
Tuesday, 17.07.2018.
11:10
Key powers, Russia included, replacing ambassadors in Serbia
The Russian embassy, headed for six years by Aleksandr Chepurin, will also see changes. Chepurin should retire after his service in Serbia while the Kremlin could replace him with Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko, who has excellent knowledge of the Balkan circumstances, and is a proven friend to the Serbs, the newspaper writes.Kharchenko is considered a problem-solving expert in the Russian diplomacy, whom President Vladimir Putin sends to countries under Western pressure. Kharchenko was Russia's ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina from 2009 to 2014, and before that, Russia's long-standing representative in the Contact Group and, along with US and EU diplomats, a representative in the mediation trio set up to resolve the status issue of Kosovo and Metohija.
He was also a member of the Russian delegation during the Dayton peace talks and the peace conference on Bosnia-Herzegovina in Paris.
Berlin and London are also expected to appoint experienced career diplomats as their new ambassadors in Belgrade, bearing in mind that in the coming period the Kosovo issue and Serbia's accession to the European Union will be at the top of the agenda.
At the end of his four-year mandate is also Chinese Ambassador Li Manchang, but diplomatic circles believe Beijing is unlikely to make changes in its "outpost" in Belgrade at this time.
Namely, it is thought that introducing a new diplomat "into the game" would not be productive as China has started a number of significant projects in both Serbia and in this part of Europe, and bearing in mind that Li has done a great deal of work and made a significant contribution to strengthening Belgrade-Beijing ties.
Australian and Indian ambassadors, Julia Feeney and Narinder Chauhan, are also leaving Belgrade, Vecernje Novosti said.
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