Vučić: Negotiations With MOL Over NIS ‘Not Going Well’ Serbia is running out of time to defuse an energy-and-sanctions minefield, and President Aleksandar Vučić is openly signaling that the backup plan may be falling apart.

A deal against the clock

As the May 22 deadline for talks approaches, Vučić has confirmed that negotiations with Hungary’s MOL over buying out the Russian stake in oil company NIS are faltering. He admits the talks “are not going well” and that the NIS situation “is not simple at all,” stressing he is “not overly optimistic” about reaching a deal before the license for negotiations expires.

The core issue: Serbia needs a solution that keeps its key oil company compliant with Western sanctions on Russia while avoiding a direct political break with Moscow. The MOL option was billed as a pragmatic escape route; now it looks shaky.

Vučić’s framing: external pressure, internal resolve

From the presidential podium, Vučić casts Serbia as a small player trapped in big-power crossfire. He insists the world is in a “serious economic crisis” that goes far beyond oil and energy, and portrays Belgrade as trying to “find a sustainable solution” in hostile conditions.

He repeatedly appeals to Washington, saying he hopes the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will “understand Serbia’s position” so the country “neither guilty nor responsible” is not punished, adding that he “begs” them for that understanding.

Behind-the-scenes “games”

Vučić also hints at murky geopolitical maneuvering, claiming “serious political and business games” are being played out of public view and suggesting the last year could be turned into a film about who is “cheating” and “lying” to Serbia.

Yet the official narrative ends in defiance: the state’s job, he says, is to “take care of the people” and ensure Serbia “endures everything” while protecting citizens’ interests and economic stability amid global turmoil.

In other words, if the MOL lifeline snaps, Vučić wants Serbs — and Washington — to believe it was the world, not Belgrade, that left NIS hanging.