Pro-Russia Serbs protest in Belgrade to support Russia and against NATO
Reuters
Published Apr 15, 2022 11:23PM ET
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Thousands of Serbs waving Russian and Serbian flags and carrying pictures of President Vladimir Putin marched through Belgrade to the Russian embassy on Friday, to protest Serbia's government bid to distance itself from Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.
Throngs of people, many from ultranationalist organizations, joined the march from the city center to the nearby Russian embassy, where they fired signal flares, played Russian and Serbian anthems and hailed the two countries as brotherly nations.
"I came to this rally to support Russia and to say a loud and clear 'no' to policies of authorities in Belgrade who made a shameful decision to vote against Russia in the U.N.," said Mladen Obradovic, a protester.
In recent weeks Belgrade voted three times for United Nations' resolutions that condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and suspended it from the main U.N. human rights body. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation."
Still, Serbia, which is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas and oil, refuses to impose sanctions against the Kremlin and it maintains regular flights to Moscow.
Protesters chanted "No NATO" and "Serbians and Russians are brothers," and slogans against President Aleksandar Vucic who won the presidential vote on April 3, while his Progressives secured the most votes to form a government.
Earlier this week, in a move seen by experts as a departure from military cooperation with Russia, Vucic said Serbia was eyeing a purchase of two dozen new and used Western jet fighters.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.