Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday April 4 hailed the "
strategic partnership
" between Belgrade and Moscow, after his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucica claimed a landslide victory in the presidential election.
Read alsoMarked by the memory of the NATO strikes in 1999, Serbia finds itself torn between Europe and Russia
“
I believe that your actions as Head of State will continue to foster a strengthening of the strategic partnership that exists between our countries.
Unquestionably, it is in the interest of the brotherly peoples of Russia and Serbia
,” Vladimir Putin told Aleksandar Vucic in a congratulatory telegram published by the Kremlin.
Vladimir Putin considered that this "
convincing
" victory reflected "
broad support
" from the Serbs for the policy of Aleksandar Vucic which aims, according to the Russian president, to solve the "
current socio-economic
" problems and to carry out an "
independent foreign policy
".
Since the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the government of Aleksandar Vucic, accustomed to playing on the rivalry between the West and Russia, has maneuvered cautiously by officially condemning Moscow at the UN, while refraining from any sanction against the Kremlin.
In the country, traditionally close to Moscow, many Serbs support the Kremlin's policy and demonstrated in favor of the Russian operation in Ukraine.