SERBIAN FOREIGN POLICY

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.

We present you the analysis of the results of the public opinion survey on Serbian foreign policy and relations with great powers.

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.

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 warns the public that the draft Law on Foreign Affairs, if it does not undergo profound changes, will increase the power of the President in conducting foreign policy to the detriment of the Government and the discretionary power of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and reduce the transparency of the Ministry, as well as centralize the supervision of all affairs related to foreign relations. Such a law would be another step toward formalizing the President's role beyond his Constitutional competencies, thus taking over the institutions responsible for formulating and implementing foreign policy.

Paris should take a brave approach and involvement in helping reforms on the ground in the Western Balkans instead of maintaining the status quo and further losing its credibility in the region – it was concluded during the online event “France and the Western Balkans’ EU membership”, organized by BCSP on Friday, March 5th .

The topic of the latest BCSP analysis are relations between Serbia and USA in the area of culture.

The citizens of Serbia and Kosovo support the dialogue, but it is not clear to them what exactly Belgrade and Pristina are negotiating about. The dialogue has not improved mutual relations, nor do citizens feel personal benefit from it. At the interpersonal level, the ethnic distance between Serbs and Albanians is great and most would not accept the other as a family member or superior at work. This could change if politicians and the media close to them change their current narratives, it was pointed out during event co-organized by the Belgrade Centrr for Security Policy (BCSP), Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Kosovo Center for Security Studies (KCSS) on December 7th.

According to a public opinion survey Serbian citizens identify Russia and China as their greatest friends. As the country's most important foreign policy priorities, citizens recognize preserving Kosovo as part of Serbia, strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries and strengthening cooperation with Russia. More than half of the citizens do not support Serbia's membership in the EU.