BELGRADE, April 15 (Reuters) – Thousands of Serbs marched through the streets of Belgrade on Friday waving Russian flags and portraits of Vladimir Putin in protest against the Serbian government’s distancing from Moscow since the invasion of ‘Ukraine.
The demonstrators, largely from ultra-nationalist organizations, marched to the Russian Embassy, in front of which they sang Serbian and Russian anthems and songs to the glory of the two “brotherly countries”.
The Serbian government has voted three times in recent weeks in favor of UN resolutions condemning the invasion of Ukraine or supporting Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council.
Serbia, which is almost totally dependent on Russian natural gas and oil, nevertheless refused to impose sanctions on the Kremlin and maintained air links between the two countries.
The pro-Russian demonstrators chanted slogans against NATO, which they did not forgive for its bombardments during the Kosovo war in 1999, and against Aleksandar Vucic, the progressive president re-elected on April 3, who this week sent a a new sign of distancing from Moscow by saying it is ready to buy Western combat planes, in particular the French Rafale.
(Report by Branko Filipovic, written by Aleksandar Vasovic, French version Tangi Salan)