US Official to Visit Serbian-Russian Humanitarian Centre

The US embassy told BIRN that one of its staff will see the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Centre in the southern city of Nis on Wednesday.

"We confirm that on Wednesday, July 12, as part of a visit to southern Serbia and at the invitation of the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Centre, a representative from the US Embassy, accompanied by an interpreter, is expected to visit the Centre," the embassy said in a written statement to BIRN.

The Russian-Serbian centre opened in 2012 and says it is involved in "emergency humanitarian response, the prevention of natural disasters and technological accidents and the elimination of its consequences".

However, concerns have been raised in Western diplomatic circles that it could be used for espionage purposes.

The co-director of the centre, Vjaceslav Vlasenko, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that it has nothing to do with spying, but had helped in emergency situation such as forest fires, major floods and the huge influx of migrants across the region in 2015.

"We are not politicians, we are fulfilling our mission, I hope in a good way," Vlasenko said.

He described rumours that the centre is used for military purposes as "nonsense".

The US visit comes amid Russian requests for the centre to be given diplomatic status, as NATO soldiers in Serbia have.

The Status of Forces Agreement, SOFA, which establishes the rights and privileges of foreign personnel present in a host country in support of a larger security arrangement was signed in 2014 during a visit by Defence Minister Nebojsa Rodic to the US. The Serbian parliament ratified it in 2015.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Brian Yee told the Senate on June 15 that the centre was a concern for the State...