Officials from Belgrade and Moscow signed a memorandum on Monday to strengthen cooperation between the capitals of Serbia and Russia. The agreement was signed as part of the “Moscow Days in Belgrade” event.
Despite Serbia’s stated goal of joining the European Union, it remains one of Russia’s few European partners nearly four years after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed by Nikola Nikodijević, President of the Belgrade Assembly, and Sergey Cheryomin, Minister in the Moscow Government and Head of the Department for Foreign Economic and International Relations.
Nikodijević said the memorandum aims to enable further collaboration in transport, culture, education, and sports.
“It is very important for us that a city as large as Moscow, one of the largest in Europe, wants close cooperation with Belgrade,” Nikodijević said at a press conference.
“I believe the memorandum we signed today will serve as a kind of ‘gateway’ to the Russian market for many of our businessmen, and it will also help bring new investments from Russia to Belgrade and Serbia.”
He noted that the previous ten-year cooperation agreement had already improved relations between the two capitals.
“At the same time, it opened doors for our businessmen working with companies from Moscow and across Russia,” he added.
Sergey Cheryomin recalled the first “Moscow Days in Belgrade” event in 2016. A year later, “Belgrade Days in Moscow” were held in the Russian capital.
“Political developments in recent years did not allow us to continue in the same spirit, but thanks to the efforts of the City of Belgrade and the favorable climate this year, we are reviving this tradition,” Cheryomin said.
The memorandum was signed on the 81st anniversary of Belgrade’s liberation from Nazi occupation during World War II, when the city was freed jointly by the Soviet Red Army and the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army.
