Far-right Serbians hold pro-Russia rally amid Ukraine crisis
Serbian demonstrators chanted pro-Russia slogans as they marched through central Belgrade, lighting road flares and waving Russian flags.
Pro-Russia protestors march through the streets in central Belgrade, Serbia, March 4, 2022.
A Serbian far-right group held a rally in the capital, Belgrade, in support of Russian people.
The People’s Patrols started out as a group hostile to migrants and refugees crossing Serbia en route to Europe, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin is fighting a ''Nazi and pro-Western government.''
The rally had a large number of protesters from several right-wing groups.
The crowd chanted messages of support for Russia.
Damnjan Knezevic, of the People's Patrol, and Mladen Obradovic, of Obraz, addressed demonstrators from a stage.
They said if Serbia imposes sanctions on Russia after elections next month, twice as many people will take to the streets.
"Russia, no matter how much they attack us and offer us light, is all a drop in the ocean for one Slavic soul. There is no Serb who will impose sanctions on Russia and Belarus,'' said Knezevic.
Obradovic said: "Russia is freeing the whole world from NATO threats" and that today "Putin has shown who is the strongest and bravest statesman in the world.”
Pro-Russia protestors march through the streets in central Belgrade, Serbia, March 4, 2022.
Russia's influence in Serbia
Russia effectively controls the Balkan country's oil and gas industry and wields veto power at the United Nations that has helped block formal recognition of Serbia's breakaway region of Kosovo.
Kosovo declared independence after NATO carried out a bombing campaign in 1999 — the alliance's first intervention against a sovereign state — which effectively ended the war between Serbia and ethnic Albanian fighters.
Vucic has been successfully juggling Serbia's relations with eastern and western powers for years, scoring substantial financial aid from the European Union alongside major business deals with China.
Critics and rights groups have accused Vucic of eroding democracy, including curbing media freedoms and undermining institutions in a similar manner to Moscow.
Serbia rejects calls from the European Union to join sanctions against Russia, citing national interests.
Russia's Ukraine invasion
The demonstration began with the playing of the anthems of Serbia and Russia, with protesters carrying Russian and Serbian flags and shouting, "Russia, Russia" and "Serbs and Russians are brothers forever."
Protesters then walked to the Russian Embassy.
Russia's war on Ukraine has led to international outrage, with the EU, US, UK, and others implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow. The West is also supplying Kiev with weapons and humanitarian aid.
A man holds a flare during a rally in support of Russia in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, March 4, 2022.
But Putin said the "special military operation" will last until all goals set are achieved. He started the war Feb. 24 to "demilitarise" and "denazify" Ukraine.
According to the UN human rights office, at least 331 civilians have been killed and 675 injured in Ukraine since the start of the war.
More than 1.2 million people have also fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
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