The streets of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, are lined with symbols referring to Russia. In souvenir kiosks, the face of Vladimir Putin is printed on mugs and sweaters offered to tourists. Almost nothing with the effigy of the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić. The letter Z, which has been seen appearing on Russian tanks since the start of the war in Ukraine, is painted on several city walls. The feeling of brotherhood between the two peoples seems obvious.
Serbia is the only European country that has not imposed sanctions on Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. “It appears as a black spot on the continent”, maintains the professor of philosophy at the University of Belgrade Milivoj Bešlin. But what explains this close relationship between the two peoples?
Foray into pro-Russians
Miloš Jovanović is a professor of law at the University of Belgrade and chairman of the New Democratic Party of Serbia, a nationalist right-wing opposition party. The graffiti cheering Russia scattered all over his city gives him a certain sense of pride. He sees them as a symbol of resistance. “It’s the Gallic village of Asterix”, he says in perfect French.
His position is explained by his vision of the war in Ukraine. “I rather think it’s a war between the West and Russia. Between NATO, to be precise, and Russia. His opinion is shared by two-thirds of the Serbian population, according to a poll conducted by the organization New Third Way. Only 25% of Serbs blame Russia for the war in Ukraine.
According to Mr. Jovanović, Serbia and Russia share a common enemy: NATO. In March 1999, in the hope of ending the wave of violence perpetrated by Serbian forces against the Kosovo Albanian people, NATO allied forces bombarded Belgrade. The scars of these attacks are still visible in the streets of the capital, where you can see buildings that have never been rebuilt. Nearly 25 years later, Russia invaded Ukraine, fearing in particular an enlargement of NATO: “a direct threat” to the security of the country, said Vladimir Putin at the start of the war.
This aversion to the West is also shared by political science doctoral student Nikola Jović. “We see the same scenario playing out as in the 90s. The same actors play the same roles. The same countries that are torn apart. The student supports, like the majority of the Serbian people, the policies of Vladimir Putin. “We are seeing Russia come back to the fore as an international player, and I think that creates an interesting alternative to Western policies,” he sums up.
A question of territorial integrity
“Like the Russian world, there is the concept of ‘Greater Serbia’. This means that President Aleksandar Vučić is responsible for all Serbs, regardless of the territory in which they live,” explains Milivoj Bešlin. Some nationalists, like Miloš Jovanović, dream of a world where all Serbs are united under a single political regime. This is also why the Serbs do not recognize the independence of Kosovo, which they claim as one of their provinces.
For some of them, it is legitimate for Russia to want to do the same with the Russian population in Ukraine. “Some say: ‘We are surprised by the position of the Serbs.’ I reply that I am surprised by your surprise. Our territorial integrity, nobody takes it into account. For them [l’Occident], Kosovo is independent. To date, the majority of UN countries have recognized its self-declared independence in 2008.
“To understand the relationship to the war in Ukraine that exists in Serbia, you have to go back to the wars for the heritage of Yugoslavia. There has always been this feeling that the West has taken sides against Serbia in the wars, and that a similar intervention is being carried out by Russia. Serbian nationalists have identified with Russia and its war in Ukraine,” adds Professor Milivoj Bešlin.
These two Slavic peoples have never been at war. According to Milivoj Bešlin, we must go back to the XVIIIe century to understand the links that bring them together. Initially, they found themselves under the Orthodox Church. Then there was the era of socialism experienced by the Soviets and Yugoslavia. “The saying of one of the most famous Serbian politicians of the XIXe century, Nikola Pašić, was: “God, the people, Russia.” This is the basis of Serbian nationalism and populism, as well as the myth of a protective role on the part of Russia,” he explains.
These similarities between the two cultures also make it easier to welcome Russian immigrants to Serbia. More than 200,000 have landed there since the start of the war in Ukraine.
“Several years of Russian propaganda”
In a cafe in Belgrade, the organization Russian Democratic Society meets every Thursday to teach Serbian to newcomers, but also to discuss the challenges they face. When The duty visited them, one of the topics was about the financial aid they wanted to send to Ukraine. “People here in Serbia are often surprised when they realize that the Russians [de notre organisation] do not share their positive opinion of Vladimir Putin and the war,” says co-founder Peter Nikitin. His organization campaigns, among other things, to change public opinion. “It was several years of pro-Russian propaganda that produced this result. If we don’t succeed in making them change their minds, we can at least make them understand our position,” he maintains.
Lev Vysotsky is among those who fled Russia to avoid possible conscription. “I believe that the Serbs have very strong ties with the Russians, but they do not understand that Vladimir Putin is dangerous for us”, testifies the one who left his country with his wife a few days after the start of the war. “There are several political prisoners in Russia, there is a lot of repression. My nation seeks its freedom. »
Since the beginning of the war, the president, Aleksandar Vučić, condemned the invasion, but did not impose sanctions. For Milivoj Bešlin, this does not make Serbia a neutral country in this conflict. “There is this perception that Vučić is sitting on two chairs, but he is only sitting on one: that of the pro-Russians,” he maintains.
This report was funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund-The duty.