Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday criticized the capture of his ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, by the United States a day earlier, saying that “it is clear” that the international legal order and the UN Charter “do not work.”
The United States arrested Maduro and his wife in a swift operation on Saturday morning, as US airstrikes hit several locations, shaking the capital Caracas.
“In the world today, the law of force, the law of the strong, prevails. This is the only principle of contemporary politics that exists in the world today,” Vučić told the media on Sunday in Belgrade, after a meeting of Serbia’s National Security Council.
Maduro was taken to a detention center in New York on Sunday, and is expected to appear in court later this week to face charges of drug and weapons offenses.
Vučić said that Serbia “wants friendship with the US, but it is our duty to say when there is a violation of international law.”
Serbian officials maintain close ties with Maduro, despite the European Union and the US repeatedly saying he lacks the legitimacy of a democratically elected president due to electoral irregularities.
Vučić last spoke with Maduro on August 21, 2025, when he had a telephone conversation.
One of the main arguments for strengthening cooperation with Venezuela, presented by Serbian officials, is the fact that Venezuela does not recognize the independence of Kosovo.
The Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabic, attended Maduro’s inauguration as president in January last year, prompting criticism from Brussels.
In 2023, Serbia and Venezuela signed a visa waiver agreement and announced the opening of a Serbian embassy in the country, which borders Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana.
The Venezuelan regime is under sanctions from the European Union, whose membership Serbia aspires to, as well as from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
