According to the latest survey conducted by the Institute for European Affairs, Serbian citizens still think highly of the Serbian-Russian relations, although this sentiment has been declining for years.
The majority of survey participants are against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the number of those who think that Russia is Serbia’s friend and that relations between the two countries will improve in the future has been decreasing.
People in Serbia believe that Vučić has been working on Serbia having good relations with Russia. The majority of Serbian citizens hacw never been to Russia, oppose sanctions against it and are informed about the latest developments via TV and the Internet.
Only 1% of young people would emigrate to Russia, as most of the chose the EU, and Germany specifically, as their option.
Also, the survey respondents view the EU as the biggest donor in Serbia.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Institute for European Affairs, in cooperation with Ninamedia Agency, conducted a public opinion poll on Serbia-Russia relations which took place from 4 to 14 March 2022. The research was conducted on a representative sample of 1,228 people living in the Republic of Serbia (excluding Kosovo and Metohija) using the CAWI method of online surveys.
The topics of the research were the relations between Serbia and Russia, the opinions about the war in Ukraine, the political situation in Serbia and the attitude of citizens towards visits and possible migration to Russia as opposed to the European Union.
The respondents rated the relations between Serbia and Russia with 4.03. The highest ratings were given by men under the age of 30 and over the age of 60, with a basic level of education, from central Serbia and suburban settlements. The average rating of 4.03 is down from the 2018 and 2019 surveys.
The majority of respondents (61%) believe that relations between Serbia and Russia will improve in the future, and these are mostly men under the age of 30 and over the age of 60, who have completed elementary education, and live in eastern and southern Serbia or in the suburbs. 18% of the respondents think otherwise. Compared to the previous survey, there is a decrease in the number of those who believe that relations between Serbia and Russia will be better in the future, as well as an increase in those who believe that they will not.
The majority of Serbian citizens (76%) believe that Russia is a friend of Serbia, 3% have the opposite opinion, while 21% do not know the answer to this question. The number of respondents who believe that Russia is a friend of Serbia is more pronounced among male respondents, mostly graduates, residing in central Serbia, in the suburbs. Compared to before, there is a decrease in the number of respondents who believe that Russia is a friend of Serbia.
32% of the respondents believe that the EU is the main donor in Serbia, followed by China (25%), while 12% believe it is Russia. 25% of them do not have an opinion. About 42% of the respondents believe that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not justified, while 35% believe the opposite, and these are mostly men, residing in all regions except Vojvodina, usually in suburbs. Just over a fifth (23%) do not know the answer to this question.
Three quarters (76%) of the respondents believe that Serbia should not follow the EU’s decision and impose sanctions on Russia (these are mostly men over 60 years old, with lower education levels, from western and central Serbia, rural settlements). 13% believe that it should do so while 11% did not want to answer the question.
(Nova, 13.04.2022)
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