2014年经济学人 塞尔维亚的外交政策 分裂的忠诚

Serbia's foreign policy

Divided loyalties¹

Serbia is torn between its old ally, Russia, and the European Union

A NICE summing-up of Serbia's foreign-policy dilemmas² was shown in a recent drawing by Corax, the country's leading political cartoonist. Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's prime minister, is shown playing two pianos at once, with Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor³, conducting on one side, and Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, conducting on the other. The Serbian government is finding the Ukraine crisis is only adding to the political cacophony⁴.

In March Serbia abstained⁵ in a UN vote reaffirming the territorial⁶ integrity of Ukraine after Russia's annexation⁷ of Crimea. As a candidate for European Union membership, it was heavily criticised for this by its partners. Officially the reason was that Serbia had only a caretaker government. But the real reason was that it did not want to annoy its traditional ally, Russia.

Since then Serbia has desperately⁸ tried to please both sides. Now its government is clear that, just as Kosovo should be part of Serbia, so Crimea should be part of Ukraine. But much of the press and many Russophile Serbs disagree. A website with contacts for those who want to fight with pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine says that the “liberation” of Kosovo is not possible without the liberation of Novorossiya, as the rebels call their territory.

The number of Serbs fighting in Ukraine may be no more than 100, but their alleged⁹ exploits are widely reported. Mr Vucic calls them mercenaries who are “harmful” to Serbia. Legislation is being drawn¹⁰ up making it illegal to fight in foreign wars. That would also cover Serbian citizens who are ethnic¹¹ Albanians or Bosniaks and have become jihadists in Syria and Iraq. Yet Serbian soldiers still train with both Russian and NATO troops (Serbia is in NATO's “partnership for peace”, but is not a candidate for membership).

Candidates to join the EU are supposed to align¹² their foreign policy with it. Thus Montenegro has imposed sanctions on Russia. But Serbia has refused to do so: it would cause enormous damage, growls¹³ Russia's ambassador in Belgrade. Now Brussels is telling the Serbian government it must not profit from Russia's ban on imports of certain agricultural and dairy products from the EU. Croatian companies hit by the ban are reportedly investigating if they can relabel their products as Serbian.

Energy is another source of tension. For years the prospect¹⁴ of South Stream, a pipeline¹⁵ to export Russian gas that would pass through Serbia, has shimmered¹⁶ like a mirage¹⁷ ahead. It would bring jobs and cash as well as gas to parts of the country that need them. Now it is unclear if it will ever happen. Under pressure from the European Commission, the Bulgarian government has just suspended its part of the project.

If EU leaders are irritated by Serbia, so are the Russians. Russia's Gazprom Neft has a 51% stake in NIS, Serbia's main oil company. On August 11th it was revealed that the police were investigating the 2008 privatisation of NIS. Mr Vucic has implied that the Russians understand that this is domestic political score-settling. Yet the Russians are clearly furious. They were said to have got fantastic terms for the deal after siding with Serbia over Kosovo.

Mr Vucic will go on trying to satisfy both conductors. As long as he causes no problems in Kosovo, says Dimitar Bechev of the London School of Economics, the West will forgive him. He adds that it is hard to be tough on Serbia for selling Russia raspberries when France is selling it warships¹⁸. Yet Serbia must eventually lean the EU's way to protect its candidacy.

Meanwhile in Kosovo, whose security is provided by a NATO-led force, most of Ukraine's 160 troops are pulling out. They have more urgent business than helping¹⁹ to protect Kosovo's Serbs.

1 loyalties   

n.忠诚( loyalty的名词复数 )；忠心；忠于…感情；要忠于…的强烈感情

参考例句：

• an intricate network of loyalties and relationships 忠诚与义气构成的盘根错节的网络
• Rows with one's in-laws often create divided loyalties. 与姻亲之间的矛盾常常让人两面为难。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

3 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

4 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

5 abstained   

v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Ten people voted in favour, five against and two abstained. 十人投票赞成，五人反对，两人弃权。
• They collectively abstained (from voting) in the elections for local councilors. 他们在地方议会议员选举中集体弃权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

7 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

8 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

12 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

13 growls   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• The dog growls at me. 狗向我狂吠。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The loudest growls have echoed around emerging markets and commodities. 熊嚎之声响彻新兴的市场与商品。 来自互联网

14 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

16 shimmered   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea shimmered in the sunlight. 阳光下海水闪烁着微光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A heat haze shimmered above the fields. 田野上方微微闪烁着一层热气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

18 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

19 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。