‘Serbian and Russian world’ at the same address – at the opening of the Russian Historical Society in Belgrade

Why is the idea of a so-called ‘Serbian world’ being mentioned again in Serbia? is a question that arose after its proponent, Aleksandar Vulin, a former minister in several departments and former director of the Serbian secret service, spoke about it at the founding of the Russian Historical Society on October 26 in Belgrade.

“It serves more to unite the electoral bloc that supports the current government than it is actually feasible today,” former Yugoslav and Serbian diplomat Srećko Đukić told Radio Free Europe (RFE).

Since 2012, Serbia has been ruled by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which emerged from the Serbian Radical Party (SNS) that was in power in the 1990s, with Vulin’s Socialist Movement party in coalition.

Since Vulin first mentioned the term “Serbian world” in September 2020, officials from the countries that emerged after the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) have warned that this phrase is reminiscent of Serbian political tendencies during the war in the 1990s under President Slobodan Milošević.

The “Serbian World” Vulin and his party, the Socialist Movement, describe it as an idea “for Serbs to once again become a unified political nation,” which would unite Serbs from Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina…

Srećko Đukić sees Vulin’s commitment as a revival of the 1990s.

“I think that his slogan ultimately involves redrawing borders in peace or war. Fortunately, this story can only live on in the minds of nationalist individuals today. If these ideas were not completely ignored, it would be extremely disastrous for the Serbian people,” Đukić assessed.

Russia also in the story

The promoter of the so-called “Serbian World” claims that his idea does not pose a threat to others.

“The Russian Historical Society is a gathering place for all those who see Serbia as a country that will fight unreservedly for the peaceful creation of a Serbian world,” Vulin said at the founding assembly of the Russian Historical Society in Serbia, where he was elected president of the Belgrade branch.

Five years ago, as defense minister, when explaining how he sees the “Serbian world,” Vulin said that he advocates the unification of areas where Serbs live and that the president of Serbia is the president of all Serbs.

“I believe this will happen in ten, twenty, or fifty years. It is essential that care for the entire Serbian people be managed from Belgrade. And I don’t see what’s controversial about that,” said Vulin.

President Aleksandar Vučić assessed the negative reactions to this as a campaign against Serbia.

Srećko Đukić believes that these signals show that the idea presented by Vulin has the support of the government leadership.

“Serbian politics is moving in the opposite direction to European and global politics. It is not being led without the country’s leadership, so it is difficult to believe that Vulin is doing this on his own,” said Đukić.

In his latest speech on the topic of the “Serbian world,” Vulin also mentioned Russia, which he considers inevitable.

“Rejecting Russia is also rejecting Serbia, and every generation of the Serbian people has experienced that its physical survival depends on the Russian people,” Vulin said last week in Belgrade.

In addition to his position as Minister of Police, Defense, and Social Affairs, Vulin has also served as director of the Security and Information Agency (BIA) for the past decade as a trusted confidant of President Vučić.

After Vulin’s latest speech on the topic of the “Serbian world,” there was no response from either the region or the world.

The European Union, the US administration, and the governments of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia have not yet responded to RFE/RL’s requests for comment on the matter.

Security ties

During his tenure as head of the secret service, Vulin maintained close ties with Russia’s top intelligence officer, Sergei Naryshkin, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR).

Naryshkin is also president of the Russian Historical Society.

“The Serbian people are still close to us in spirit. This is highly valued in Russia. Belgrade’s independent path is also respected,” Naryshkin said in a video message to his colleagues in Belgrade.

The heads of the Russian Historical Society, Naryshkin and Vulin, have met several times since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Vulin’s story is also intended for external use. And now it is convenient to revive the theme, unite the Serbian and Russian worlds, and rule the world. That’s how I see it. And someone always responds to this with justice,” said Srećko Đukić.

In mid-2023, the State Department placed Vulina on the US sanctions list due to his ties to Russia and alleged corruption and criminal activity during his tenure at the BIA.

Serbia has been a candidate for membership in the European Union (EU) since March 2012 and is one of the few European countries that did not join the embargo imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.

It is declaratively committed to the EU, but has been stagnating on the path to European integration for almost 15 years.

“A different reality than in the 1990s”

Srećko Đukić believes that there is no need to fear the realization of Vulin’s “Serbian world.”

“There is little chance of it coming true. The reality today is different. Countries have been created, internationally recognized borders have been established, and this is a completely different story compared to the breakup of Yugoslavia,” concluded Đukić.

In its annual report in September 2021, the Croatian Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) stated that Russia supports the concept of a “Serbian world” in order to destabilize the Western Balkans.

“The promotion of such ideas by the Serbian government further destabilizes sensitive inter-ethnic and inter-state relations in Southeast Europe, particularly with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro,” the SOA wrote.

In mid-2024, the Podgorica-based non-governmental organization Digital Forensic Center (DFC) wrote in an analysis titled “Russia’s Role in the Balkans: The Case of Montenegro,” the “Serbian world” is a modification of the idea of the so-called “Greater Serbia” during the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

“It implies historical revisionism, the denial of the national identity of some neighbouring peoples and a narrative of the vulnerability of Serbs outside Serbia, with the ambition that their issues be decided in Belgrade,” the Podgorica-based DFC report states, among other things.

Since coming to power in 2012, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has repeatedly stated that Serbia has no territorial aspirations towards anyone, but that it cares for all Serbs around the world./RSE/