Serbia has increasingly positioned itself as a strategic actor circumventing the Western sanctions imposed on Russia. Its growing economic and diplomatic engagements with Moscow directly challenge the cohesion of the sanctions regime, creating loopholes that undermine collective efforts to isolate Russia economically. By continuing energy imports, facilitating financial transactions, and expanding military-technical cooperation, Serbia risks becoming a weak link in Western measures designed to pressure Russia. This defiance raises critical questions about the efficacy of sanction waivers and the unintended consequences they may produce in the broader geopolitical landscape.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies warns that granting Serbia a sanctions waiver would send the wrong message, emboldening other countries to…