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Tens of thousands of Russians have made Serbia their home. A change in government raises new questions about their future.

Source: Meduza

The opposition “Student List” won a decisive victory in Serbia’s parliamentary elections last Sunday. Former President Aleksandar Vučić, who heads the Serbian Progressive Party, conceded defeat and said the new government would soon impose sanctions on Russia. Meduza examines how well-founded that prediction is and what else may lie ahead for the tens of thousands of Russians who have moved to Serbia in recent years.

Vučić congratulated the students on their victory but said they were acting in the interests of and “with direct support from various European countries and the American ‘deep state’ — the one that opposes President Trump.” In his view, the students are “just contractors who will do the dirty work planned by someone else.” Since the EU started imposing sanctions on Russia right after the war began, he said, it would force the students to do the same. He predicted this would happen by March or April.

Brussels is indeed sympathetic to the Student List. In the spring of 2025, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said the Serbian protesters’ demands were very close to “what we (the EU) are looking for,” while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Serbia needed to pursue reforms to join the EU.

Von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa also congratulated the students on their election victory and pledged to “support reforms to uphold the rule of law, ensure media freedom, fight corruption, and strengthen democratic institutions, and work together to build Serbia’s future in the European Union.”

But Brussels has already expressed displeasure with Serbia’s lenient policies toward Russian citizens. Russians can currently enter the country without a visa for up to 30 days, obtain residence permits, and apply for Serbian citizenship.

About 2,000 Russians have become Serbian citizens since the start of 2022. Radio Free Europe reported that more than 300 of them had received Serbian passports through an expedited process by May of this year. The European Commission believes this poses security risks for EU countries, since those granted citizenship include people under EU, U.S., or Ukrainian sanctions.

Brussels is also unhappy with Belgrade’s refusal to join EU sanctions against Russia. In its November 2025 communication on enlargement policy, the European Commission stated explicitly that “Serbia must clearly demonstrate its geopolitical orientation toward the EU.” It can do so by aligning its policies “with the EU’s restrictive measures adopted in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

So what will the students do?

In the foreign policy section of their platform, the students emphasize their desire to deepen partnerships with EU countries and carry out the reforms needed for future integration. At the same time, they intend to preserve the “traditional partnership with the Russian Federation” and “not impose restrictive measures” against it.

The students have not spoken out against Russians who have moved to Serbia, either. Any resentment they may have felt toward the Russians was more likely rooted in economic and social concerns: The arrival of tens of thousands of people drove up rents in Belgrade and Novi Sad, directly hurting many students who rent apartments. But they plan to address this problem through tighter regulation of the real estate market rather than restrictions on newcomers.

Given both the students’ statements and pressure from Brussels, which demands that Serbia bring its visa policy into line with EU rules, it is reasonable to assume that the Serbian authorities will eventually impose visa requirements on Russian citizens after all and abolish or restrict the expedited citizenship process.

But it is difficult to predict when these changes might happen, or even how likely they are. Serbia still has to form a government, and a presidential election is due in December. The new cabinet’s priorities will be fighting corruption, reforming the justice system, and ensuring media freedom.

The government is unlikely to address visa and citizenship rules for Russians anytime soon. It will also resist imposing sanctions on Russia, just as Vučić did — if only because doing so would damage relations with Moscow and automatically jeopardize continued supplies of discounted Russian gas. Those supplies meet up to 90% of the country’s gas needs.

The students are unlikely to want to expose the economy to such a risk during the transition, so it seems reasonable to expect that Serbia will not join sanctions against Russia in the next few months, as the Student List itself has already said.