US envoy rebuked for ‘lecturing’ Serbia on Guaido

BELGRADE: The US ambassador in Belgrade received a strong rebuke Friday after he told Serbia it was on "wrong side of history" for not supporting Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela.

Guaido, who has been recognised by more than 50 countries since declaring himself the acting leader in January, is locked in a battle with President Nicolas Maduro for control of crisis-plagued Venezuela.

The United States is leading a push to recognise the opposition leader. US Ambassador Kyle Scott´s tweet this week encouraging Serbia to join the pack drew a harsh reply from the country´s defence chief, who rejected the "lecture" and told the US envoy: "Serbia is not a colony." Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin also brought up the US-led NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 that ended its war with Kosovo but killed hundreds of civilians. "After bombing Serbia you have lost any moral right to talk about law and justice," Vulin was quoted by local media as saying.