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.
