Serbia steps back into the Non-Aligned Movement debate, 65 years after Belgrade conference

Belgrade is once again hosting officials from Non-Aligned Movement countries, six and a half decades after the conference that launched the grouping in the Yugoslav capital.

The high-level commemorative meeting, held on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, brings representatives of the movement’s “historic core” together with members of its current troika, Azerbaijan, Uganda and Uzbekistan. The Serbian government presents the gathering as a chance to revisit the founders’ contribution and consider the movement’s lasting legacy in a complicated international environment.

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monopoly over non-alignment

In its statement, the government said the meeting would reaffirm a shared commitment to the U.N. Charter, international law and the spirit of multilateralism as countries address global challenges.

Retired diplomat Srećko Đukić told N1 that the meeting was taking place in a highly closed circle, despite the Non-Aligned Movement having once been the largest and most powerful organization after the United Nations. He said its importance was not reflected in either the number or the level of participants.

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If it can join any circle, it will join every circle, including the Non-Aligned Movement

Đukić also criticized Serbia’s handling of the legacy. Non-alignment, he said, belonged to the whole of socialist Yugoslavia and therefore to the other former Yugoslav republics as well. Instead, he argued, Serbia behaves as if it holds a monopoly over the tradition. He said discussions no longer mention Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito or Jawaharlal Nehru, but present non-alignment as though it began with today’s state and government.

He said Serbia’s leaders were ready to use any diplomatic forum that might serve their interests, including the Non-Aligned Movement, particularly in maintaining their position on Kosovo. Đukić described the movement’s legacy as a major political force that once mediated between global blocs, encouraged North-South dialogue and helped generate United Nations resolutions and decisions. In his view, today’s world lacks a comparable intermediary as arms competition accelerates and wars continue.

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The upcoming high-level commemorative meeting marking the 65th anniversary of the first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement will provide an opportunity to assess the historical legacy of the Belgrade Conference and once again confirm a shared commitment to the U.N. Charter, international law and the spirit of multilateralism