Russia and Serbia: Who does Putin mean when he says "people in dignified positions"?

The unannounced visit of Aleksandar Vučić to Moscow, the meeting with Vladimir Putin, and the Russian president's statement about the composition of the new Serbian government have stirred up quite a bit of dust, comments B92, reports the news agency Patria.

Putin said that in the new Serbian government, "people who will pay serious attention" to the development of relations with Russia should take "dignified positions," and "Večernje novosti" states that this could point to two groups of people - those gathered in the SPS, and those who were on the list gathered around the SNS.

According to one theory by "Novosti," Russia would most prefer Ivica Dačić to remain in Nemanjina 11, whose presidency of the OSCE they were satisfied with. Also, Putin would allegedly prefer the socialists to retain the energy portfolio, and for Dušan Bajatović to remain in "Srbijagas."

The newspaper states that the suggestion of the head of Russia could also be for politicians from Vučić's electoral list, for whom the development of cooperation with the Kremlin is a high priority, to take positions in the Government.

Moscow sees Nenad Popović and his SNP in that role. On the other hand, Russia would not look favorably if pro-Atlantic forces "prevailed" in the Serbian government, or if, as speculated, LDP of Čedomir Jovanović, for example, joined the ruling bloc, claims B92.

- It is important to say that Moscow never makes demands and ultimatums. This was a cordial meeting where Putin expressed a kind of request," assesses political analyst Dragomir Anđelković for "Novosti."

As he said, Moscow would like to see both Popović and the socialists remain in power.

- They do not forget the old cooperation with the SPS when Dačić's people were the link to Moscow in the government led by DS," said Anđelković, according to the analysis by B92.