Thousands of people have staged a demonstration in Serbia to voice their opposition to the government’s attempts to gain Serbian membership in the European Union (EU) and NATO.
Protesters marched in the capital, Belgrade, on Sunday, which coincided with the 17th anniversary of NATO’s intervention in Serbia in 1999, when it was at war with Kosovo.
People carried banners that praised Russian President Vladimir Putin while shouting slogans against the government’s decision to join the EU and NATO.
Last December, Serbian authorities took a step toward joining the EU. They, however, said that they would want the country to remain militarily neutral.
People will go to polling stations on April 24 to decide about whether the country will swing toward the EU or Russia.
Serbia’s pro-Russian parties have asked for a referendum to be held together with the general elections over Belgrade’s potential membership in NATO.
The pro-Russia politicians believe that if populists remain in office after the elections, they will go ahead with NATO membership and will also join the West’s sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine.
The sanctions were imposed in 2014 against senior Russian officials, pro-Russian figures in Ukraine and some Russian companies and banks. They came after Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17, 2014 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier.
The United States and its European allies accuse Moscow of destabilizing Ukraine. Moscow, however, rejects having a hand in the crisis gripping the Eastern European state.