Two Years On, Balkan States Remain Divided Over Ukraine War
Most former Yugoslav countries have been supporting Ukraine since the Russian invasion, recalling their own wartime suffering in the 1990s. But Serb officials remain sympathetic to their allies in Moscow, defying EU calls for solidarity against aggression.
When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many people across the Balkans were shocked, remembering the all-too-recent traumas of the 1990s wars.
But the divisions that have continued to plague the former Yugoslav region since the 1990s were highlighted again in Balkan states’ differing reactions to Russia’s attempt to use force to subjugate its Western-looking neighbour.
While politicians in countries like Croatia and North Macedonia issued condemnations, pro-government media in Serbia celebrated the full-scale invasion, parroting the Kremlin line about a ‘special military operation’ to counter a NATO threat.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country “unfailingly respects international legal norms… but also respects its traditional friendships”, a reference to his country’s longstanding ally, Russia.
On the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion, BIRN examines how Balkan states have responded to the ongoing war since then, how they have dealt with Ukrainian refugees and whether they have offered military aid as well as verbal support for Kyiv.
Bosnia: Serbs Pro-Putin, Bosniaks Anti-War
When it comes to the country’s official stance on the Ukraine war, Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have one. But the Bosnian Serbs, led by hardline Republika Srpska entity President Milorad Dodik, have been supporting Russia and its war more than openly.
This stance has not changed since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, and was only confirmed on Wednesday this week, when Dodik met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the city of Kazan.
“We confirm the good relations that Srpska has and cultivates with the Russian state and with you,” Dodik told Putin during the brief meeting. “What we’re doing in the current circumstances is rejecting any possibility of joining Western sanctions against Russia.”
Bosniak politicians have condemned the invasion of Ukraine, but there no state-level stance has been adopted.
In early 2015, following the Russian occupation of the Crimea peninsula, Bosnia’s tripartite presidency voted to ban the export of any kind of weapons or ammunition to Ukraine directly. The ban remains in force. When it comes to aid for Ukraine, the Bosnian state sent symbolic 150,000 euros.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion up to February 20 this year, 122,586 Ukrainian citizens have entered Bosnia and Herzegovina. But according to Border Police data, most of them have since left the country. According to the data, only three people have declared their intention to seek asylum in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The rest used the country as a transit point.
In April 2022, Bosnia’s Council of Ministers changed its rules when it comes to Ukrainian citizens, who are allowed to stay in the country for six months without a visa, with a possibility of an extension, providing that they have the means to support themselves while in the country.
Croatia: ‘Putinophile’ Becomes a Political Insult
“Croatia is on the right side of history and morality,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has often repeated in the last two years when speaking about the war in Ukraine. The Croatian government has unequivocally sided with Ukraine and condemned the Russian regime.
“Croatia will continue to support Ukraine. Our military aid to Ukraine so far amounts to more than 181 million euros. Not all countries have the same opportunities, both financially and in terms of weapons, when it comes to helping Ukraine,” Croatian Defence Minister Ivan Anusic said at an informal meeting of EU defence ministers on January 31 this year.
However, Croatia does not have stocks of the armaments Ukraine needs, which are mostly artillery shells, ammunition, large-calibre weapons, armour, drones and planes, and there is very little information about exactly what Croatia’s military aid to Ukraine has included.
The only thing that can be said with certainty is that Ukraine has bought demining machines from Croatia. In October last year, the International Donor Conference for Humanitarian Demining of Ukraine was held in Zagreb, and Croatia immediately donated five million euros for demining.
Croatia also joined the EU’s sanctions against Russia. The sanctions are very broad, from trade bans to airspace bans for Russian airlines and port bans for Russian-flagged ships. Croatia has also frozen the assets of people who are considered close to Vladimir Putin’s regime or him personally. In Croatia, there are currently several luxury yachts and properties belonging to Russian oligarchs, which Ukraine is claiming as a war damages.
From February 25, 2022, to December 30, 2022, a total of 22,407 citizens of Ukraine sought refuge in Croatia. The state offered to provide them with accommodation and Croatians received the Ukrainians with a great deal of empathy – mainly because in 1991-1995, during the war for independence, a third of Croatia was occupied and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.
Unlike other immigrants, the Ukrainians have certain privileges because all Ukrainian citizens who were in their home country on February 24, 2022 and are now in Croatia have officially-approved temporary protected status and can work without a residence and work permit.
Support for Ukraine is widespread on the Croatian political scene, and terms like ‘Putinophile’ or ‘Russophile’ are used by politicians as insults against opponents.
In the conflict between Prime Minister Plenkovic and President Zoran Milanovic, which has been going on for years, the prime minister often accuses the president of “pushing the pro-Russian line in Croatia”.
Milanovic has hit back by accusing Plenkovic of “delivered the most prominent Croatian company to the Russians” – a reference to retail chain Konzum becoming part of the Fortenova group, which at the time was part-owned by Russian banking giant Sberbank.
Kosovo: Following its Western Allies’ Lead
“Croatia is on the right side of history and morality,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has often repeated in the last two years when speaking about the war in Ukraine. The Croatian government has unequivocally sided with Ukraine and condemned the Russian regime.
“Croatia will continue to support Ukraine. Our military aid to Ukraine so far amounts to more than 181 million euros. Not all countries have the same opportunities, both financially and in terms of weapons, when it comes to helping Ukraine,” Croatian Defence Minister Ivan Anusic said at an informal meeting of EU defence ministers on January 31 this year.
However, Croatia does not have stocks of the armaments Ukraine needs, which are mostly artillery shells, ammunition, large-calibre weapons, armour, drones and planes, and there is very little information about exactly what Croatia’s military aid to Ukraine has included.
The only thing that can be said with certainty is that Ukraine has bought demining machines from Croatia. In October last year, the International Donor Conference for Humanitarian Demining of Ukraine was held in Zagreb, and Croatia immediately donated five million euros for demining.
Croatia also joined the EU’s sanctions against Russia. The sanctions are very broad, from trade bans to airspace bans for Russian airlines and port bans for Russian-flagged ships. Croatia has also frozen the assets of people who are considered close to Vladimir Putin’s regime or him personally. In Croatia, there are currently several luxury yachts and properties belonging to Russian oligarchs, which Ukraine is claiming as a war damages.
From February 25, 2022, to December 30, 2022, a total of 22,407 citizens of Ukraine sought refuge in Croatia. The state offered to provide them with accommodation and Croatians received the Ukrainians with a great deal of empathy – mainly because in 1991-1995, during the war for independence, a third of Croatia was occupied and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.
Unlike other immigrants, the Ukrainians have certain privileges because all Ukrainian citizens who were in their home country on February 24, 2022 and are now in Croatia have officially-approved temporary protected status and can work without a residence and work permit.
Support for Ukraine is widespread on the Croatian political scene, and terms like ‘Putinophile’ or ‘Russophile’ are used by politicians as insults against opponents.
In the conflict between Prime Minister Plenkovic and President Zoran Milanovic, which has been going on for years, the prime minister often accuses the president of “pushing the pro-Russian line in Croatia”.
Milanovic has hit back by accusing Plenkovic of “delivered the most prominent Croatian company to the Russians” – a reference to retail chain Konzum becoming part of the Fortenova group, which at the time was part-owned by Russian banking giant Sberbank.
Kosovo: Following its Western Allies’ Lead
On February 24, 2022, the day the full-scale Russian invasion began, Prime Minister Albin Kurti convened Kosovo’s Security Council to discuss the situation and issued a statement saying that “the Republic of Kosovo and its people are aligned alongside allies and strategic partners the EU, NATO and the US, and are in continuous coordination on institutional actions”.
Kosovo aligned itself with EU sanctions against Russia, a decision which has been updated each time the EU has imposed new punitive measures. This is despite the fact that Pristina and Kyiv have no bilateral relations because Ukraine does not recognise Kosovo’s independence.
In March 2022, the Kosovo government abolished the visa regime for Ukrainian citizens, although few have shown interest in coming to the small Balkan state. Kosovo’s Ministry of Internal Affairs did not respond to BIRN’s requests for figures on Ukrainian citizens entering Kosovo over past two years.
However, since April 2022, Pristina has hosted 18 Ukrainian journalists as part of a government-financed programme to offer them refuge. At the beginning of their stay, they were granted 1,000 euros to assist their relocation, as well as a 500-euro monthly stipend and 300 euros for rent.
Thirteen of the journalists are still in Kosovo while the others have returned to Ukraine.
The project was expanded to involve Afghan journalists following the Taliban takeover. “Ukrainian and Afghan journalists have, first of all, found a safe place to live and which allows them to continue their professional activities, which is the greatest aim of the programme,” Xhemajl Rexha, head of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK told BIRN.
“Because of the success of this programme, we are exploring possibilities with the Kosovo and German governments for new ways of support for journalists who are exposed to different kind of dangers due to their work,” Rexha added.
Montenegro: Government Condemns War But Public Divided
The current Montenegrin government officially condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as did the previous government led by Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic. Russia is only officially supported by smaller pro-Serb political parties and organisations.
In April 2022, Montenegro confirmed its decision to join EU sanctions on Russia. Moscow subsequently added Montenegro to its list of ‘enemy states’.
However, public opinion in Montenegro is divided over the war in Ukraine, with the country’s large ethnic Serb community generally more sympathetic to Russia than those who identify as Montenegrin or Albanian.
In July 2022, the Montenegrin parliament passed a resolution condemning the invasion and promising that the country’s foreign policy would be aligned with its Western partners.
Montenegro then signed a joint declaration in December 2022 on the Euro-Atlantic perspective of Ukraine, pledging military and humanitarian support but also promising to receive Ukrainian refugees. Last May, the Montenegrin Defence Ministry sent 400,000 euros’ worth of medicine and military donations to Ukraine.
The current government, elected last November, has made no official military or humanitarian donations to Ukraine but has voiced its support for Kyiv.
“We will continue to help the best of our ability and thus continue to support Ukraine in its struggle to preserve its territorial integrity. It’s important to continue joint action and implementation of all restrictive measures adopted by the EU,” Defence Minister Dragan Krapovic said on February 14.
More than 191,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered Montenegro since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, but most of them later left for EU countries. According to Interior Ministry data from February 5 this year, over 10,000 Ukrainian refugees are currently still in Montenegro, and most of them have applied for and received 12-month ‘temporary protection.’
In March 2022, the Montenegrin government decided to grant one year of temporary protection to citizens of Ukraine who cannot return to their homes due to the war, relaxing rules that require foreigners to submit a request to stay beyond 90 days.
North Macedonia: Soviet-Era Military Hardware Donated to Kyiv
North Macedonia joined EU sanctions on Russia as soon as they were imposed, and politicians from both government and the opposition have made it clear that they support Ukraine and condemn the Russian military assault.
The government and the opposition seldom share the same views in parliament, but in this case they jointly adopted a declaration supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Of 120 MPs, only three voted against and one abstained – two from the small Levica (Left) Party, which supports Russian positions, while the third was the leader of a small opposition ethnic Serb party.
“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine dealt a severe blow to international peace and security, the basic principles of international law and international order,” North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski said at the UN in New York in September.
Pendarovski had previously stated on several occasions that “the Russian aggression represents a war [waged by a] dictatorship against a democratic country”.
Since the beginning of the war, North Macedonia has sent ten batches of military aid to Kyiv, with more probably on the way, and is considered one of the top contributors of equipment among Ukraine’s allies, considering its size and population of just under two million.
The small country, which is currently restocking with Western equipment, has sent Ukraine some 30 T-72 Soviet-era tanks, representing all of its tank inventory, as well as 12 Mi-24 Soviet-era attack helicopters and four Su-25 attack jets, also representing almost all of the country’s inventory of such hardware. All of these, ironically, were purchased from Ukraine back in 2001.
North Macedonia has sent various types of ammunition as well, and on top of this, in 2023 the defence ministry said it had finished the training of a first batch of Ukrainian soldiers on its soil and that more would follow.
However, controversy erupted when North Macedonia’s small opposition Left Party drew blistering criticism for supporting Russia’s view of the war in Ukraine and parroting its terminology about a ‘special military operation’. The Left Party has two MPs in the 120-seat parliament.
However, after the backlash, the leader of the Left party, Dimitar Apasiev, insisted that “the people [in North Macedonia] are pro-Russian and we are just telling it like it is. That does not make Levica pro-Russian.”
The UN refugee agency’s most recent data from January 2023 said that some 6,000 Ukrainians were in the country. The Interior Ministry and the Red Cross say that the number has slightly decreased since then to about 4,500. The majority are young people who came to North Macedonia to stay with friends and relatives or because of business connections, so the exact number is hard to calculate.
The Interior Ministry said that all those who have applied have been granted a “temporary stay for humanitarian reasons”.
Serbia: Belgrade Remains Moscow’s ‘Friend in Tough Times’
Serbia backed a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine at the UN General Assembly in March 2022, but did not join the sanctions imposed on Vladimir Putin’s regime, despite being a candidate country for EU membership.
Belgrade is Moscow’s longtime ally, and Russia has given Serbia constant political support over the issue of Kosovo.
“Two years have passed [since the beginning of the full-scale invasion] and Serbia is the only European country that has not imposed any sanctions,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic proudly told Russian news agency TASS in February 2024. He added that he hoped that this situation would continue.
In the same interview, Vucic described the current relationship between the Russian and Serbian people with the proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed”.
“It is easy to be a friend during easy times. To remain a friend, to stay honest when it is tough, only in these moments that you show your true face,” he said.
In July last year, the United States imposed sanctions on Aleksandar Vulin, a close ally of Vucic who at the time was director of Serbia’s intelligence agency, accusing him of fostering corruption and promoting Russia’s interests.
Vulin was then awarded Russia’s Order of Friendship by Putin in January 2024. Vulin said he was proud of the order because he “unconditionally protected the interests of Serbia and the Serbian people”. Vulin was also honoured in January by the Russian Federal Security Service for contributing to cooperation between the Serbian and Russian security services.
President Vucic said in April 2023 that “Serbia has not been and will not be exporting weapons to Ukraine”, and will also not send ammunition to Ukraine or Russia. His statement came after Reuters news agency, citing information from leaked Pentagon documents, reported that Serbia had agreed to send weapons to Kyiv, or had already sent them.
From the beginning of the war to February 2023, about 148,500 refugees from Ukraine have entered Serbia, but most of them, a total of 145,513, subsequently left the country, UN refugee agency representative Soufiane Adjali said at the time.
In August 2023 Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that at that point, there were 43,000 refugees from Ukraine in Serbia.
However, no public official data has been made public and the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not respond to BIRN’s questions about the current number of refugees from Ukraine.
In March 2022, President Vucic told the Ukrainian ambassador to Ukraine that Serbia is ready to provide humanitarian aid. Serbia sent aid to Ukraine. In August 2023, it sent 14 trucks with humanitarian assistance.
Prime Minister Brnabic said that Serbia has also sent electrical power equipment and two modern medical vehicles, and has donated three million euros in financial aid through the UN children’s agency and refugee agency. She also noted that summer camps for Ukrainian children were organised in 2022 and 2023 in Serbia.
Refugees from Ukraine who have been given temporary protection status by the Serbian authorities are entitled to work. By the end of October 2023, the Asylum Office had issued 302 rulings granting such status to Ukrainians in Serbia.