Serbia–NATO relations

Serbia–NATO relations
Map indicating locations of NATO and Serbia

NATO
Serbia
Map of Europe with countries in six different colors based on their affiliation with NATO as follows:

Since 15 January 2015, the relationship between Serbia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been regulated in the context of an Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP).

  NATO member countries
  In the process of accession
  Promised invitations
  Membership is not the goal
  Have not announced their membership intentions

Background

Yugoslavia's communist government sided with the Eastern Bloc at the beginning of the Cold War, but pursued a policy of neutrality following the Tito–Stalin split in 1948.[1] It was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961. Since that country's dissolution most of its successor states have joined NATO, but the largest of them, Serbia, has maintained Yugoslavia's policy of neutrality.

1992–2006: Yugoslav Wars, NATO bombing, non-alignment

Further information: Yugoslav Wars, Operation Deliberate Force, and NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia–NATO relations

NATO
Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro–NATO relations

NATO
Serbia and Montenegro

The NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 against Bosnian-Serbian forces during the Bosnian War and in 1999 in the Kosovo War by bombing targets in Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia) strained relations between Serbia and NATO.[2] After the overthrow of President Slobodan Milošević, Serbia wanted to improve its relations with NATO. However membership in the military alliance remained highly controversial, because among political parties and large sections of society there were still resentments due to the bombings in 1999.[3][4] In the years under Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić the country (then Serbia and Montenegro) did not rule out joining NATO. However, after Đinđić's assassination in 2003, Serbia increasingly started pursuing a course of military neutrality.[5][6] Serbia's Parliament passed a resolution in 2007 which declared their military neutrality until such time as a referendum was held on the issue.[7]

2006–2011: Entry into the Partnership for Peace

Serbia joined the Partnership for Peace programme during the 2006 Riga Summit. While this programme is sometimes the first step towards full NATO membership, it was uncertain whether Serbia perceives it as signaling an intent to join the alliance.[8] However, the West's broad recognition of Kosovo's contested declaration of independence in February 2008, while it was a protectorate of the United Nations with security support from NATO, further strained relations between Serbia and NATO.

Although current Serbian priorities do not include NATO membership, the Alliance offered Serbia an invitation to enter the intensified dialogue programme in 2008 whenever the country was ready.[9] On 1 October 2008, Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Šutanovac signed the Information Exchange Agreement with the NATO, one of the prerequisites for fuller membership in the Partnership for Peace programme.[10]

2011–2022: Individual Partnership Action Plan

In April 2011 Serbia's request for an Individual Partnership Action Plan was approved by NATO,[11] and Serbia submitted a draft IPAP in May 2013.[12] The agreement was finalized on 15 January 2015.[13][14] It regularly participates in its military maneuvers, and hosted a joint civil protection exercise with NATO in 2018.[15][16]

2022–present: Russian invasion of Ukraine

Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several neutral states reconsidered their alignment, including Finland and Sweden which applied for NATO membership. However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in office since 2017, reiterated in March 2022 that his government was not interested in NATO membership.[17] The minor Serbian Renewal Movement, which has two seats in the National Assembly, and the Liberal Democratic Party, which currently has none, remain the most vocal political parties in favor of NATO membership.[18] The Democratic Party abandoned its pro-NATO attitude, claiming the Partnership for Peace is enough.

Serbia maintains close relations with Russia, due to their shared Slavic and Eastern Orthodox culture but also due to its support on the Kosovo issue. Serbia and Belarus are the only European states which refused to impose sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.[19][20][21]

Opinion polling on Serbian NATO membership

Neću NATO (lit. 'I do not want NATO') anti-NATO signs in Serbia, 2011

An opinion poll in September 2007 showed that 28% of Serbian citizens supported NATO membership, with 58% supporting the Partnership for Peace.[22] However, following NATO's open support to Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008, support for NATO integration significantly dropped. A poll from March 2022 found that 82% of Serbians opposed joining NATO, while only 10% supported the idea.[23]

Polls on Serbian membership of NATO
Dates
conducted 		Pollster Client Sample
size 		Support Opposed Neutral
or DK 		Lead Ref.
7 March 2024 Sweden acceedes to NATO
4 April 2023 Finland acceedes to NATO
24 February 2022 Russia invades Ukraine
16 March 2014 Russia annexes Crimea
7 August 2008 Russia invades Georgia

Relationship timeline

Event Date
Partnership for Peace 2006-12-14

Serbia's foreign relations with NATO member states

See also

References

  1. ^ Lampe, John R. (2000). Yugoslavia as History: Twice There Was a Country. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77401-2. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  2. ^ ""Vojna neutralnost nije izolacija"". B92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  3. ^ Mandić, Marija (2016). "Official Commemoration of the NATO Bombing of Serbia. A Case Study of the Fifteenth Anniversary" (PDF). Südosteuropa. 64 (4): 460–481. doi:10.1515/soeu-2016-0042. hdl:21.15107/rcub_dais_7921. S2CID 199469980.
  4. ^ Pejic, Nenad (3 March 2011). "Serbia's Decade Of Denial". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  5. ^ Ejdus, Filip (2014). "Serbia's Military Neutrality: Origins, effects and challenges". Croatian International Relations Review. 20 (71): 43–70. doi:10.2478/cirr-2014-0008. S2CID 154105390 – via DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals.
  6. ^ Seroka, Jim (2010). "Serbian National Security and Defense Strategy: Forever Wandering in the Wilderness?". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 23 (3): 438–460. doi:10.1080/13518046.2010.503146. S2CID 154930410 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  7. ^ "Serbian parliament's Kosovo resolution". B92. 2007-12-27. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
  8. ^ "Military independence is not isolation". B92 (in Serbian). 6 October 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  9. ^ "NATO offers "intensified dialogue" to Serbia". B92. 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  10. ^ "Serbia signs information exchange agreement with NATO". Southeast European Times. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  11. ^ "NATO's relations with Serbia". NATO. 2015-01-16. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  12. ^ "Serbia and NATO, are we at a turning point?". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia. 2013-07-25. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  13. ^ "Dacic: IPAP, step forward in Serbia-NATO relations". infoBalkans. Tanjug. 2015-01-16. Archived from the original on 15 December 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  14. ^ NATO. "Relations with Serbia". NATO. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  15. ^ "NATO i Srbija ostavili bombardovanje iza sebe". BBC News Na Srpskom.
  16. ^ "Serbia hosts joint military exercises with Russia". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11.
  17. ^ Öztürk, Mustafa Talha (2022-03-14). "Serbia will not join NATO: President". Anadolou Agency. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  18. ^ Radoman, Jelena (2010-12-10). "NATO-Serbia relations: New strategies or more of the same?". EurActiv. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
  19. ^ "Vučić: Full support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine PHOTO / VIDEO – English". B92.net. 2022-02-25. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Serbia will not impose sanctions against Moscow, president says". Reuters. 2022-02-25. Archived from the original on 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
  21. ^ Dragojlo, Sasa (2022-02-25). "Serbia Supports Ukraine's Sovereignty But Opposes Sanctions on Russia, Vucic says". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Serbians Yearn for EU, Reject Joining NATO". Angus Reid Global Monitor. 25 December 2007. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  23. ^ "Institute for European Affairs: Record low support of Serbia – NATO cooperation". N1. FoNet. 2022-03-24. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-18.