This past weekend, Volodymyr Zelensky visited Serbia for the first time as Ukraine’s president, a role he assumed in 2019. Zelensky and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vučić, agreed on a new humanitarian aid package. For the Serbian leader, the visit was a chance to show that he is ready to move towards the European Union “as much as possible,” political analyst Aleksandar Djokic told The Insider.
Zelensky’s visit to Belgrade took place Saturday, Aug. 8. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed European integration, humanitarian aid, and mutual support.
Vučić assured Zelensky that Ukraine can always count on Belgrade’s backing when it comes to Kyiv’s pursuit of EU membership. More concretely, Belgrade will also allocate around 2 million euros to help restore Ukraine’s energy sector. Zelensky, in turn, said he hoped that “Serbia’s path to the EU will accelerate.”
Vučić also repeated his earlier statements that Serbia supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and that there are “no buts” on that issue.
Reaction to the visit was mixed. Pro-government media avoided detailed coverage, while activists from the “Serbs for Russians” initiative (known in Serbian as “Srbi za Ruse”), held a protest in the center of Belgrade replete with Russian tricolor flags and portraits of Vladimir Putin.
At a soccer match held the same day, fans of Red Star Belgrade displayed a banner reading: “While you are hosting a Nazi in Belgrade, Serbs are bleeding in crucified Kosovo!” The wording reflects pro-Russian propaganda narratives that falsely portray Ukraine’s government as Nazi, as well as Serbian nationalist rhetoric over Kosovo, whose independence Serbia does not recognize.
Belgrade-based political analyst Djokic told The Insider that the visit itself gives Vučić an opportunity to “demonstrate” to the European Union that he is ready to accommodate European concerns to the extent he believes his domestic political constraints will allow. At the same time, Djokic said, Vučić’s position on Ukraine is essentially aligned with that of Brussels — save for his refusal to impose sanctions on Russia.
“For Russia, this will undoubtedly be painful in terms of prestige, but Moscow currently has no real means to change the situation in Serbia,” Djokic said. “It will have to accept it. At the same time, Vučić’s goal remains the same: to stay a perpetual candidate for EU membership, never bringing the matter to actual accession to the European Union, while also not breaking ties with Brussels.”
For Kyiv, the visit is valuable, as it preserves cooperation in the energy sector via the aid package proposed by Belgrade and because of possible indirect arms supplies, which are extremely important for Ukraine.
In May, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka paid an official visit to Belgrade. It was the second visit to Serbia by a Ukrainian official of that rank since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Vučić visited Kyiv in July to attend the Southeast Europe-Ukraine summit. After the trip, he promised Ukraine additional financial, medical, and energy assistance. At the same time, however, Vučić said he had refused to sign a joint declaration calling for increased pressure on Moscow.
