Serbia will pursue its citizens who acted as mercenaries on the side of the Russian Federation in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in an interview with POLITICO.

He accused the Serbs recruited to fight against Ukraine of mercenary and double standards, drawing parallels between the loss of Kosovo and the occupation of Ukrainian territories by Russia.

According to him, citizens recruited by Russian private military companies “are going to be arrested when they come back to Serbia and [are] within reach of our institutions.”

Aleksandar Vučić also sharply condemned the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine and the occupation of territories, stressing that Serbia does not recognize them as Russian.

“From the very first moment, we condemned what happened on February 24. And we have always been very supportive of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And even today, I can confirm to you, yes, Crimea, Donbas, Kherson are all part of Ukraine,” says the President of Serbia.

He stressed that Serbs, who experienced NATO bombing during the 1999 Kosovo war, can empathize with Ukrainians.

“You cannot hear a single bad word in Serbia about Ukrainians,” he assures.

Political pressure

Aleksandar Vučić also said that recently the country’s authorities have been experiencing hybrid pressure from Russia due to their political course to join the EU.

Two days before Vučić’s trip to the Munich Security Conference, hundreds of Serbian nationalists and pro-Russian activists associated with the paramilitary Wagner Group gathered in Belgrade demanding an end to the process of normalizing relations with Kosovo. Carrying banners with the slogans “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” and “Betrayal of Kosovo is the betrayal of Russia!,” protesters threatened to kill Vučić.

The organizer of the rebel rally, far-right leader Damjan Knezevic, was subsequently arrested and accused of inciting violence. He is known for his public support of the “Wagner Group,” which recruited fighters in Serbia.

President of Serbia, which has long been called an ally country of Russia, accused protesters of being anti-Serb and paid by other countries.