Russia |
Serbia |
Russia–Serbia relations refer to bilateral foreign relations between Serbia and Russia. Serbia and Russia have maintained diplomatic relations since 1838.
Serbia has an embassy in Moscow and Russia has an embassy in Belgrade and a liaison office to UNMIK in Pristina. Current Russian Ambassador to Serbia is Alexander V. Konuzin and the current Serbian Ambassador to Russia is Jelica Kurjak. Serbia also announced to later open a consulate-general in Yekaterinburg.
SFR Yugoslavia recognized Russia in December 1991 by the Decision of the Presidency on the recognition of the former republics of the USSR. Diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the USSR were established on June 24, 1940, and Serbia and the Russian Federation recognize the continuity of all inter-State documents signed between the two countries. There are about 70 bilateral treaties, agreements and protocols signed in the past. Serbia and the Russian Federation have signed and ratified 43 bilateral agreements and treaties in diverse areas of mutual cooperation so far.[1]
According to 2002 census there were 2,588 Russians living in Serbia.[2] According to 2002 census there were 4,156 Serbs living in Russia.[3]
A poll made by Marsh in 2003 shows that 93.68% of Serbs see Russia as a traditional friend.
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Highest level visits of Serbian officials to Russia include President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Koštunica meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in October 2000, visit by the Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in February 2001, visit by the Federal Prime Minister Zoran Žižić in April 2001, visit by the President Vladimir Putin to Belgrade and Pristina in June 2001, visit by the Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica to Sochi in June 2004, President of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marović attended the 60th anniversary of Victory Day in 2005, President Boris Tadić and the Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica attended the National Exhibition of Serbia in Moscow in November 2005, visit by the Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica to Saint Petersburg in May 2006, visit by the Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica to Saint Petersburg in June 2007, visit by the President Boris Tadić and the Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica to Moscow in January 2008, visit by the President Boris Tadić to Moscow in December 2008, visit by the President Dmitry Medvedev to Belgrade in October 2009.
Visits by other high officials such as Ministers of Foreign Affairs or Chairmen of Parliaments are held on average once a month.[4]
Russia backs Serbia's position regarding Kosovo. Vladimir Putin said that any support for Kosovo's unilateral declaration is immoral and illegal.[5] He described the recognition of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence by several major world powers as "a terrible precedent" that "breaks up the entire system of international relations" that have taken "centuries to evolve", and "undoubtedly, it may entail a whole chain of unpredictable consequences to other regions in the world" that will come back to hit the West "in the face".[6] During an official state visit to Serbia following the declaration, Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev reiterated support for Serbia and its stance on Kosovo.[7] However, his visit was accompanied by a scandal around the offensive comments about Zoran Đinđić made by Russian TV host Konstantin Syomin in Russian state-run TV news.[8]
Russia has also said that the March 2008 riots in Tibet were linked with the recognition by some states of the independence of Serbia's breakaway province, Kosovo. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in an interview with a Russian newspaper, also linked the demands for greater autonomy by ethnic Albanians in Macedonia with the Kosovo issue. Lavrov said, "There are grounds to presume that this is not occurring by chance. You can see what is happening in Tibet, how the separatists there are acting. The Albanians in Macedonia are already demanding a level of autonomy that is a clear step toward independence. Furthermore, events in other areas of the world give us grounds to assume that we are only at the beginning of a very precarious process".[9]
On March 23 Vladimir Putin ordered urgent humanitarian aid for Kosovo Serb enclaves.[10] Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, opposed the Russian plan for sending aid to Kosovo Serbs. He stated that Russia could only send aid if it was agreed and coordinated with Government in Pristina.[11]
On July 15, President Dmitry Medvedev stated in a major foreign policy speech "For the EU, Kosovo is almost what Iraq is to the United States.... This is the latest example of the undermining of international law".[12]
On 29 May 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev described Serbia as a "key partner" for Russia in Southeast Europe and announced "We intend to continue to coordinate our foreign police moves in future, including the ones related to the solving of the issue with Kosovo".[13]
Russian ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Konuzin told a Belgrade daily in June 2009 that "Russia's stand is rather simple — we are ready to back whatever position Serbia takes (with regards to Kosovo)."[14]
| Dates | Visit |
|---|---|
| October 2000 | Meeting between the Federal President, Vojislav Koštunica and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow |
| January 2001 | Visit by the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Goran Svilanović, to Moscow |
| February 2001 | Visit by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Igor Sergeyev, to Belgrade |
| February 2001 | Visit by the Federal Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, Miroljub Labus, to Moscow |
| March 2001 | Visit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russian, Igor Ivanov, to Belgrade |
| March 2001 | Visit by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, Vladimir Rushailo, to Belgrade |
| April 2001 | Visit by the Federal Prime Minister, Zoran Žižić, to Moscow |
| June 2001 | Visit by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to Belgrade and Pristina and meeting with Federal President Vojislav Koštunica and Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić |
| November 2001 | Visit by the Federal Minister of Defense, Slobodan Krapović, to Moscow |
| December 2001 | Visit by the Federal Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, Miroljub Labus, to Moscow |
| February 2002 | Visit by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Head of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija, Nebojša Čović, to Moscow |
| February 2002 | Visit by a delegation of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, to Belgrade |
| March 2002 | Visit by a delegation of the State Duma, to Belgrade |
| May 2002 | Visit by the Russia Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Razov, to Belgrade |
| June 2002 | Visit by the Russian Minister for Trade and Economic Development German Gref, to Belgrade |
| June 2002 | Visit by the Mayoress of Belgrade, Radmila Hrustanović, to Moscow |
| August 2002 | Visit by the President of the Chamber of Trade and Industry of the Russian Federation, Yevgeny Primakov |
| September 2002 | Visit by the RF Minister of Culture, Michael Shvidkoy, on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the Days of Russian Culture in Serbia and Montenegro |
| September 2002 | Meeting between Federal President Vojislav Koštunica and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov at the Earth Summit 2002 held in Johannesburg |
| February 2003 | Visit by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Head of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija, Nebojša Čović, to Moscow |
| April 2003 | Visit by Foreign Minister Svilanović, to Moscow |
| May 2003 | Visit by the Speaker of the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro, Dragoljub Mićunović, to Moscow |
| September 2003 | Visit by Rasim Ljajić, Minister for Human and Minority Rights of Serbia, to Moscow |
| September 2003 | Visit by Vojislav Milovanović, Serbian Minister of Religion, to Moscow |
| September 2003 | Visit by Anđelka Mihajlov, Minister for the Protection of Natural Resources and the Environment of Serbia, to Moscow |
| November 2003 | Visit by Božidar Đelić, Minister of Finance and Economy, to Moscow |
| March 2004 | Visit by the Minister for Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shoigu, to Belgrade |
| May 2004 | Visit by the Minister of Trade and Tourism Bojan Dimitrijević to Moscow, signing of the Memorandum on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the city of Moscow |
| June 2004 | Meeting between Prime Minister of Serbia Vojislav Koštunica and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in Sochi |
| June 2004 | Visit by Foreign Minister Vuk Drašković to the Russian Federation. |
| June 2004 | Visit by Defence Minister Prvoslav Davinić to the Russian Federation. |
| June 2004 | Visit by the President of State Duma of the Russian Federation, Boris Gryzlov, to Serbia and Montenegro. |
| March 2005 | Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Cooperation in the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachov visited Serbia and Montenegro. |
| April 2005 | Russian President’s Special Envoy for Cooperation on International Terrorism and Organised Crime Anatoly Safonov visited Serbia and Montenegro. |
| April 2005 | Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov visited Belgrade to attend the Contact Group meeting. |
| April 2005 | Speaker of the Parliament Zoran Šami visited the Russian Federation and participated at the International Parliamentary Conference in Saint Petersburg. |
| May 2005 | Serbia and Montenegro President Svetozar Marović visited the Russian Federation to attend the ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of Victory Day on 9 May in Moscow. |
| May 2005 | Visit by the Head of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija, Nebojša Čović, to Moscow |
| May 2005 | President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Slobodan Milosavljević visited the Russian Federation. |
| November 2005 | Speaker of the Parliament Zoran Šami visited the Russian Federation. |
| November 2005 | Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Belgrade. |
| November 2005 | Meeting between the President of Serbia, Boris Tadić and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow |
| November 2005 | Foreign Minister Vuk Drašković visited the Russian Federation |
| November 2005 | Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica visited the Russian Federation in his capacity as sponsor of the National Exhibition of Serbia in Moscow. |
| May 2006 | Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica met with Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg |
| August 2006 | Visit by Sergey Shoigu to Serbia. |
| April 2007 | Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov took part in OSCE meeting in Belgrade |
| June 2007 | Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić visited Moscow. |
| June 2007 | Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica met with Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg |
| July 2007 | Chairman of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov visited Serbia |
| November 2007 | Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov visited Belgrade |
| November 2007 | Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić visited Moscow |
| January 2008 | Serbian President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica visited Moscow |
| February 2008 | First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Belgrade |
| July 2008 | Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić visited Moscow |
| June 2008 | Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić met with the Russian Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller. |
| November 2008 | Co-Presidents of the Joint Serbian-Russian Committee for Economic Cooperation Sergey Shoigu and Ivica Dačić met in Moscow. |
| December 2008 | President of the National Assembly of Serbia Slavica Đukić Dejanović visited Moscow |
| December 2008 | President of Serbia Boris Tadić visited Moscow |
| February 2009 | Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić visited Moscow and signed mutual visa waiver program |
| October 2009 | Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić visited Moscow |
| October 2009 | President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev visited Belgrade to attend the ceremony to mark the liberation of Belgrade in WW II |
| February 2010 | Deputy speaker of the Duma Alexander Babakov visited Belgrade |
| May 2010 | President of Serbia Boris Tadić visited Moscow to attend the ceremonies to mark the 65th anniversary of Victory Day on 9 May |
| December 2010 | Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić visited Moscow |
| March 2011 | Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin visited Belgrade |
| April 2011 | Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Belgrade |
Russia is an important partner in Serbia's economic cooperation with the world and is in first place in terms of trade volume, in first place in terms of import and in fifth place in terms of export. Commodity trade between the two countries in 2007 increased over that in 2006 and amounted to more than US$ 3,077 billion. Exports from Serbia amounted to US$ 451,5 million, while its imports amounted to US$ 2,625 billion.
Energy sources (oil, oil products and gas making up 83.5 per cent on the import side), raw materials and machine-building products account for the preponderant part of imports from the Russian Federation, while Serbia exports pharmaceutical products, flooring, machines, equipment, food, textiles and other consumer goods.[15]
Yugoslavia and the Russian Federation signed the Agreement on cooperation in the Fields of Culture, Education, Science and Sports on July 19, 1995. Based on this Agreement a Program of Cooperation in the Areas of Education, Science and Culture was signed in December 2001 for the period 2002-2004. The Days of Culture of the Russian Federation were held in Serbia and Montenegro in 2002 and those of Serbia and Montenegro in the Russian Federation in 2003.[16]
The Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Belgrade opened on April 9, 1933. Popular name of the centre is Russian Home.[17]
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