Research on global support for world leaders shows that Vladimir Putin enjoys the greatest support precisely in Serbia, a country where thousands of Russians have found refuge since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022. Putin, according to a Gallup International study published in February, is supported by 37 percent of citizens in Serbia.
By RFE
A flag with the letter “Z”, a symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is seen from Belgrade on the anniversary of the war. Right-wing groups chanted “Death to Ukraine” and “Glory to Russia” in front of Russian anti-war activists, who responded with “No to war” and “Russia without Putin.” This is how the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was marked in Serbia, in a country where Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoys the greatest popularity. Russian Natalia told Radio Free Europe, during a rally against the war in Ukraine that she felt support for Putin among the population. “Actually, not everywhere. It is mainly the older people who are somewhat influenced by Russian propaganda because it is spreading here. Among the young, not so much,” she said.
She has lived in Serbia for three and a half years and, despite protests from right-wing groups, she said, she feels quite safe, even safer than in Russia. “Even if we have different opinions, people in Serbia are usually not aggressive and accept that we can have different positions,” she added.
Global support for world leaders shows that Vladimir Putin enjoys the greatest support precisely in Serbia, a country where thousands of Russians have found refuge since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022. Putin, according to a Gallup International survey published in February, is supported by 37 percent of citizens in Serbia. Russian Sasha, who has been living in Belgrade for the past few years, told Radio Free Europe that she was aware of the pro-Russian efforts, but not of the extent to which they are deeply rooted. “At the same time, I have difficult and mixed feelings about this, because since 2022 I have been living here as a kind of déjà vu of what was gradually happening in Russia,” she said.
Serbia is the only country in Europe where Gallup has conducted a survey showing support for Vladimir Putin. In all other countries, Putin has received negative assessments. Sasha said that after arriving in Serbia he had a different vision for this country.
“For me, it has always been a more European-oriented society, which sees itself in a democratic future, which acted more humanely and more conscientiously than Russian society at that time,” she emphasized. On the other hand, Belgrade resident Marko Stojanović said that Vladimir Putin is a powerful and successful politician, but that in recent years he has had problems in conducting foreign and domestic policy. “On the other hand, those who have fled Russia come to us and they have a completely different view of Russia, of Putin, so the truth is somewhere in the middle,” he added. Filip Zlatanović said that he is convinced that Putin harms his people more than he serves them. “They can’t travel everywhere, they are not part of the banking system, their economy is… I don’t know what they are doing,” he said.
WHY DO PEOPLE IN SERBIA “LOVE” PUTIN?
Even Russia’s four-year invasion of Ukraine, which the United Nations estimates has killed 15,000 civilians in that country, has not changed the mood in Serbia towards Putin. For historian Milan St. Protic, this is the result of an aggressive propaganda campaign that has been going on for years. “When this is spread from all sides and in such a systematic way, then only such an effect can be expected,” he told REL. Thousands of people cheered for Putin in front of the Church of Saint Sava during his last visit to Belgrade in January 2019. “Thank you for the friendship. Salvation to the friends,” Vladimir Putin declared then to the audience, who had gathered to support the Russian president at the invitation of the Serbian Progressive Party, the party of the country’s president, Aleksandar Vučić.
According to police estimates, there were more than 100,000 people there, and seven years later it seems that Putin has not been forgotten. His portrait can be seen on murals on the walls of buildings and on souvenirs in the center of Belgrade, welcoming tourists. Sociologist Dario Hajric assessed that Putin’s popularity speaks less about Russia and more about the local fascination with the figure of “the one who keeps things under control.” “Our political class carefully cultivates this submissive fascination with authority and the ‘strong hand’ to make them more acceptable even in the local context,” he told REL.
HOW IS THE PATTERN OF EVENTS CHANGING?
Referring also to its traditional friendship with Russia, official Belgrade remains determined not to impose sanctions on Moscow, despite warnings from Brussels and Washington. Serbia, which depends on Russia for gas imports, is among the few European countries that have not joined the European Union sanctions, even though Belgrade is a candidate for EU membership. Sociologist Dario Hajric said that Serbia is officially a candidate for the EU, but is deeply immersed in pro-Russian narratives and myths that do not belong to Western civilization. “The local authorities have been maintaining a balance for decades: a formal path towards the EU, but with the constant promotion of the idea of Russia as a protector,” he stressed.
Serbian authorities rely on Moscow and international organizations to oppose Kosovo’s independence, while under the EU umbrella, Belgrade is conducting negotiations with Pristina to normalize relations.
The Serbian government says it will not give up on its friendship with Russia. Although it supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and provides humanitarian aid to the country, Belgrade has not severed ties with the Kremlin. Pro-government tabloids praise the successes of the Russian army on the battlefield, while the Ukrainian side is portrayed as an enemy. A survey by the EU Delegation to Serbia from late last year and early this year showed that only 8 percent of citizens see Russia as guilty for the war in Ukraine. Most of the rest identify NATO, the United States and Ukraine as the culprits.
Sociologist Dario Hajric said that if Russia has been a symbol of “protector” or counterweight to the West for years, then the news of the invasion of Ukraine does not change this, but the interpretation of the invasion changes.
“It becomes ‘provoked,’ ‘necessary,’ ‘geopolitical,’ anything but what would overthrow the existing narrative,” he explained. Hejric added that the media in Serbia, copying Russian content, very quickly restructured the invasion as a “geopolitical conflict between great powers,” with Putin presented as the party forced to defend itself. Sputnik and RT (Russia Today) operate in Serbia, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić emphasized that Serbia is the only country in Europe where Russian media operate without hindrance. The European Union in March 2022 banned the broadcasting of Sputnik and RT until the end of the aggression against Ukraine and until Russia and its proxies stop spreading disinformation and manipulating information.
MEETINGS WITH PUTIN HAVE BECOME RARER, BUT HAVE NOT STOPPED
Belgrade’s doors remain open to Russian officials, most of whom are under US and European sanctions. Vučić, who previously mentioned the number of his meetings with Putin, has reduced them since February 2022. However, he did not refuse Putin’s invitation to participate in the military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2025, as part of the Victory Day over Nazism in World War II. At that time, Vučić met with Putin in the Kremlin, and after the meeting stated that Serbia and Russia should increase and strengthen cooperation in all areas. Former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vulin was much more categorical a few months ago during a meeting with Putin in Vladivostok.
In September 2024, Vulin assured Putin that Serbia is not only a strategic partner, but also an ally of Russia, emphasizing that for this reason the pressure on Serbia is “extraordinary.”
Asked about the reference to traditional relations between the two states, historian Milan St. Protic said that there is no traditional feeling towards Russia, but that the promotion of such a project has served as a response from the local authorities. “That was the case under Milosevic, and it is the case today. Those in the Russian regime, which is personified by Putin, see and have their most reliable protector, defender, guardian,” he assessed. And, while on the streets of Belgrade you can still hear cries of “Serbs and Russians, brothers forever,” Russia and Putin are seen quite differently in the rest of Europe. According to Gallup, the lowest support for Putin is in Ukraine (-98 percent), then in the Scandinavian countries – Denmark (-94), Sweden (-94), Norway (-90). Then in Poland (-83) and Estonia (-88 percent).