Vucic spoke about the support of Putin by the majority of Ukrainians in Serbia. The Russians showed the opposite result

The majority of Ukrainians living in Serbia support Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which cannot be said about visiting Russians. This statement was made by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

“There are not many Russians in Serbia, but it is interesting that these Russians in Serbia are mainly oriented against President Putin. It’s also interesting that the Ukrainians who are in Serbia are mostly Russian-speaking and are much more pro-Putin,” he said.

Russians and Ukrainians counted in Serbia

In December 2022, Vucic said that after the start of the special operation, more than 100 thousand Russians and 20 thousand Ukrainians arrived in the country. The Serbian leader announced that they would soon be able to obtain citizenship of the republic. He also emphasized that the entire procedure will be carried out in an expedited manner. According to Vucic, Serbia lacks labor force, and citizens of Russia and Ukraine who own enterprises in Serbia that provide jobs to the population, as well as citizens working in local companies or engaged in self-employment will have priority in obtaining documents.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic indicated that the influx of thousands of Russians into the country has brought benefits to the state. According to her, these people were not only attracted by the economy of the Balkan country, but also “did not feel welcome in Europe.” The head of government noted that Serbia offers benefits to Russian specialists, including engineers, “mostly very young, very qualified, very talented people.”

At the same time, Member of the European Parliament from Bulgaria Andrei Kovachev addressed the head of the foreign policy service of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, with a question about what criteria member countries should follow when deciding to grant asylum to “representatives of the Russian opposition.” Thus, in his address “Russian oppositionists were denied asylum in EU countries,” Kovachev said that many of them no longer had legal grounds for staying in the EU. The parliamentarian cited the example of a Russian oppositionist who was denied asylum by the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court, and asked how European institutions could intervene to “avoid deportation to Russia” of such citizens.

Serbia refuses to hand out passports

Six months later, the Serbian authorities abandoned this idea. This was due to a warning from the European Union that such an initiative would not be approved in Brussels. The EU believes that such measures threaten the security of the union. “If the granting of citizenship is considered to pose an increased risk to the internal security and public policy of member states, the visa-free regime may be suspended,” the European Commission said.

At the same time, in July of the same year, Belgrade nevertheless made a relaxation for candidates for obtaining a Serbian passport or residence permit. Now a residence permit and a work permit can be obtained simultaneously by applying for a “single permit” at the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs. In addition, the work permit will be valid for three years instead of one. After three years of residence in the country, foreigners will be able to obtain a permanent residence permit (PRP), which currently requires five years.