The relations between the two countries from the moment Ukraine gained its independence, in 1991, to date can be marked as formally friendly relations. The peak of friendship and solidarity came with NATO’s bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, which has remained one of the most traumatic episodes in Serbian contemporary history.

Half of the population in Serbia see Russia as the main foreign policy partner and 2/3 have positive attitudes towards Russia, while the main source of the radical pro-Russian narrative is pro-government media with their narratives that are transported to the public. That was pointed out during the panel discussion BCSP organized on December 14.

Public opinion in Serbia and Russian soft power are some of the topics of the BCSP analysis written by BCSP Senior Researcher Vuk Vuksanović, President of the International Advisory Committee Srđan Cvijić and BCSP Visiting Fellow Maksim Samorukov.

The organisations gathered around the Three Freedoms Platform fiercely condemn the aggression of the Russian Federation on Ukraine and warn that a blatant violation of international law norms is at hand. We call upon the international stakeholders and humanitarian organisations to do all in their powers to prevent further suffering of the civilian population, and upon the relevant institutions of the Republic of Serbia to contribute to that end, as well as to prepare for providing assistance to the people fleeing their homes. Also, we call upon the institutions of the Republic of Serbia to join other European countries and condemn the aggression of the Russian Federation on Ukraine. This is one of the important moments of the European solidarity and Serbia, if it wishes to be part of the European Union, must demonstrate that its shares the EU values.

What narratives are used to describe the cooperation of the Serbian government with illiberal forces such as Russia and China, and how those narratives are related to the capture of the state in Serbia, read in the text written by BCSP senior researcher Vuk Vuksanović.

BCSP researchers Maja Bjeloš and Luka Šterić analyzed how media in Serbia reported about Chinese, Russian and EU help during the pandemics.

Military neutrality of Serbia is understood as a balancing act between NATO and Russia. Draft version of the new Defence Strategy implies what consequences military neutrality strengthening will have on the defence system, budget and citizens. BCSP Researcher Katarina Djokic wrote on this topic.

With Gazprom pulling out of Ukraine’s transit network of natural gas in 2019, South – Eastern Europe, a region with high import dependency on Russian gas, must prepare itself for a post- 2019 environment that could challenge the stability of the countries’ security of supply. This is particularly the case for Serbia which imports over 80% of its natural gas from Russia.

{image1} Results of the Belgrade Center for Security Policy survey showed that Serbia is deeply polarized society and the need for defining of the policy of neutrality, as well as the comprehensive public debate on National Security Strategy, highlighted the conference held on 8th March 2017 in Belgrade. At the conference was presented BCBP's study „Public perception of Serbia’s foreign policy“, which shows that the majority of 1.400 respondents ...