BELGRADE: The United States has introduced sanctions against Serbia’s main oil supplier, which is controlled by Russia, the company said on Thursday. Serbia’s president said this could have “unforeseeable” consequences for the Balkan country.
Serbia depends almost entirely on Russian gas and oil supplies, which it receives mainly through pipelines in Croatia and other neighboring states. The gas is then distributed by Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), which is majority-owned by Russia’s state oil monopoly Gazprom Neft.
The sanctions could deprive Serbia of gasoline and heating oil ahead of the winter months. Populist President Aleksandar Vucic is already under pressure at home from 11 months of anti-government protests.
He said the sanctions will have “extremely dire consequences” in many aspects: “This is something that will affect every citizen.”
Vucic said Serbia will continue talks with both American and Russian officials, adding that people shouldn’t panic and the government is prepared for the situation.
“Trust your state. We will go through this together,” he said.
Gazprom Neft also owns Serbia’s only oil refinery.
NIS said Thursday it had failed to secure another postponement of the US sanctions, which could jeopardize its efforts to secure oil and gas deliveries in a longer term.
“The special license from the US Department of the Treasury, which enables unhindered operational business, has not yet been extended,” NIS said in a statement. It added that it has stored enough supplies to keep the operation moving for customers for a longer while.
It also said problems could occur at NIS gasoline stations with payments made by foreign bank cards but added that cash payments would be accepted.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control originally placed sanctions on Russia’s oil sector on Jan. 10 and gave Gazprom Neft a deadline to exit ownership of NIS, which it didn’t do.
US officials have not commented.
Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion in Ukraine, in part because of the crucial Russian gas deliveries.
The pro-Russian President Vucic is facing one of the biggest threats to more than a decade of his increasingly autocratic rule. Protests have been held by university students and others following the collapse almost a year ago of a concrete canopy at a railway station in the country’s north that killed 16 people.
Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption and nepotism among state officials led to sloppy work on the building reconstruction, which was part of a wider railroad project with Chinese state companies.
The US sanctions Serbia’s main oil supplier, which is controlled by Russia
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The US sanctions Serbia’s main oil supplier, which is controlled by Russia
- Serbia depends almost entirely on Russian gas and oil supplies
- The sanctions could deprive Serbia of gasoline and heating oil ahead of the winter months
Cross-border clash breaks out between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid rising tensions
- Border residents say exchange of fire in the Chaman border sector lasted nearly two hours
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan witnessed yet another border clash, according to officials in both countries who spoke in the early hours of Saturday, with each side accusing the other of launching “unprovoked” attacks.
Fighting erupted in Pakistan’s southwestern Chaman border sector, with an AFP report saying that residents on the Afghan side of the frontier reported the exchange of fire began at around 10:30 p.m. (1800 GMT) and continued for roughly two hours.
The incident underscored how tensions remain high between the neighbors, who have seen deadly clashes in recent months despite several rounds of negotiations mediated by Qatar and Türkiye that resulted in a tenuous truce in October.
“There has been unprovoked firing by Afghan Taliban elements in the Chaman Sector which is a reckless act that undermines border stability and regional peace,” said a Pakistani security official on condition of anonymity.
“Pakistani troops responded with precision, reinforcing that any violation of our territorial integrity will be met with immediate and decisive action,” he continued.
The official described Pakistan’s response as “proportionate and calibrated” that showed “professionalism even in the face of aggression.”
“The Chaman Sector exchange once again highlights the need for Kabul to rein in undisciplined border elements whose actions are destabilizing Afghanistan’s own international standing,” he added.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have grown increasingly bitter since the Taliban seized power in Kabul following the withdrawal of international forces in August 2021.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban administration of sheltering anti-Pakistan militant groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which have carried out deadly attacks in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan, targeting civilians and security forces.
The Taliban deny the charge, saying Pakistan’s internal security challenges are its own responsibility.
The Pakistani security official said his country remained “committed to peaceful coexistence, but peace cannot be one-sided.”
“Attempts to pressure Pakistan through kinetic adventurism have repeatedly failed and will continue to fail,” he said. “The Chaman response has reaffirmed that message unmistakably.”
He added that Pakistan’s security forces were fully vigilant and that responsibility for any escalation “would solely rest with those who initiated unprovoked fire.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, also commented on the clashes in a social media post, saying the Afghan Taliban had “resorted to unprovoked firing along the border.”
“An immediate, befitting and intense response has been given by our armed forces,” he wrote.
Afghan authorities, however, blamed Pakistan for the hostilities.
Border clashes that began in October have killed dozens of people on both sides.
The latest incident comes amid reports of back-channel discussions between the two governments, although neither has publicly acknowledged such talks.
