Survey: Serbs for the start of Kosovo war, volunteering to fight

The results released Friday showed that Serbian citizens as the most important foreign policy priority see Kosovo's preservation under Serbia's integrity, strengthening relations with neighbouring countries and with Russia.

In the question of whom they consider Serbia's greatest enemy, 30 percent of respondents identified Croatia, 20 percent, and 13 percent of the United States of America.

At the same time, over three quarters of them consider that in the next five years in the Balkans, there will be no outbreak of armed conflicts.

This research also showed that slightly more than half of respondents believe Serbia should intervene with the army in Kosovo in the event of an outbreak of conflicts and something less than half personally join their fellow citizens in the event of such conflict.

As the organisation reports, two-thirds of those interviewed believe that a lasting peace is possible between Albanians and Serbs, and half of them think that this is possible only in the event of a peaceful solution for Kosovo.

On the other hand, 69 percent of respondents have claimed that Serbia would have to intervene if the same situation appeared in Montenegro, and about 58 percent were for if there were conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and most would be associated with those conflicts.

Exploration “Many faces of Serbian foreign policy. Public opinion and geopolitical balance” has been conducted during the months of September and October with the representative sample of 1200 citizens. Most respondents (40 percent) view Russia as the best friend, and 72 percent believe that Russian influence in Serbia is positive, while only 2 percent of them feel that Russia's attitude toward Serbia is hostile.

After Russia, nearly 16 percent of Serbs surveyed identified China as Serbia's best friend.

The positive attitude towards China had grown after the pandemic, which was confirmed by the fact that three-quarters of respondents believe China had offered Serbia greater aid in the fight against pandemic, although official data on this aid do not exist.

According to available data, Serbia's largest donor was the EU, but only 3 per cent of Serbia's citizens are aware of it.

Although EU membership is presented as a strategic goal by Serbia's power, only 9 per cent of respondents consider the country's foreign policy priorities. Only a fifth of respondents, according to research, consider Serbia, the candidate for EU membership, should co-ordinate foreign policy with Brussels. Only 51 per cent do not support Serbia's EU membership, while 46 of the respondents are for.