Serbians rally in Belgrade to support Russia
Serbians rallied in Belgrade to condemn their president's vote against Russia and to support the latter in its stance towards the NATO.
Patriotic associations' activists in the Serbian capital of Belgrade held a rally supporting Russia, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.
The ralliers gathered on Friday evening at the monument to Russia's Nicholas II in Belgrade's city center. Members of a Serbian far-right political party, Obraz, members of patriotic movements, and citizens took part in the rally.
"Russia is liberating the world from NATO's threats" and Russian President Vladimir "Putin proves to be the strongest and most courageous statesman in the world," said the leader of Obraz Mladen Obradovic.
The participants blocked King Milan street and unfurled a nearly 20-meter-long Russian flag. The number of ralliers who were chanting "Russia, Serbia" exceeded 1,000 people, according to reports.
Capital of Serbia, Beograd (Belgrade) -- right now
— ASB News / MILITARY〽️ (@ASBMilitary) March 4, 2022
(few mins ago) #republikasrpska pic.twitter.com/0P4vVulBW0
Loudspeakers played the two countries' anthems, and the rally was a peaceful one, without interference from the police.
Demonstrators called President Aleksandar Vucic a traitor for voting in favor of Wednesday's UN General Assembly resolution that condemned the special military operation in Ukraine.
In the same context, a group of nearly 100 Serbians held a rally in Montenegro, on Monday, to support Russia and its operation in Ukraine.
Russia had for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.
After the West did not respond to Russia's demands, and amid Ukrainian shelling on the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, President Vladimir Putin initiated a special military operation in Donbass.