BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2019) Serbia is waiting for the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Thursday.
Putin has remained the most popular foreign politician in Serbia throughout the years. The examples of his popularity could be found everywhere in the country: a cafe, a village and even a church were named after the Russian leader.
On the eve of the expected visit of the Russian leader to Serbia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic explained why people love the head of the Russian state.
"Putin respects the independence of Serbia, and we are grateful for that. And for the fact that he understands what international pressure it [Serbia] was subjected to in order to turn away from Russia, to take the path to NATO and participate in various campaigns against Russia, but Serbia did not do it," Vucic told reporters.
The Serbian leadership have repeatedly expressed gratitude to the Russian authorities for supporting the territorial integrity of the country and not recognizing the self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo.
The sentiment is also confirmed by statistics. A joint study conducted in Serbia on December 17-26, 2018, by the influential Serbia's Politika newspaper and the Faktor Plus research agency showed that Russian president is the most popular foreign politician in Serbia, who gained 57 percent of the respondents' support. Putin is followed by Chinese President Xi Jinping with 36 percent of the sympathies and German Chancellor Angela Merkel with 30 percent, while US President Donald Trump was supported by 23 percent of the respondents. At the same time, President Vucic came in with 57 percent as the most popular Serbian politician.
Portraits and images of the Russian leader can be found everywhere in Serbia. A Sputnik correspondent saw them on the city walls, in the school director's office in one of the districts of Belgrade, in the priest's house in a mountain village, next to icons, on the dashboard of a taxi, on a Calendar in the state clinic, on souvenir T-shirts and in a huge number of pictures of patriotic and Orthodox character in Serbian social networks. There are several Facebook communities, which are named like "President Putin's Warriors."
The surname of the Russian president is used to name the most unexpected places. The Putin cafe was opened in the second largest city of Serbia, Novi sad, on the main pedestrian street in summer 2014. However, the owner closed it in March of the following year, despite its popularity.
The locals call the temple of the Serbian Orthodox Church, consecrated in honor of Saint Mary Magdalene, in the village of Banstol, 75 kilometers (46.6 miles) north-west of Belgrade, "Putin's Church" because of the typical Russian architecture with bulb-shaped onion domes, although there is no any real connection to the Russian leadership.
The residents of a distant village 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Belgrade, near the administrative border with Kosovo and Metohija, in the Medveda municipality, were the most original in showing their respect for the Russian leader: three years ago local residents suggested naming part of the village "Putinovo," which means Putin's village.
"They have a kind of Putin's cult there. They are ordinary people, they think outside the internet and information poison that is spilled over us every day. They believe that Putin is the only person you can count on, a sincere friend of the Serbs. The Medveda municipality feels threatened by the Albanians, therefore, the friendship with Russia and Putin's support for Serbia are the only hope of the local Serbs," a lawyer, who participated in renaming the village, Goran Petronievich, told Sputnik.
According to Petronievich, the local referendum on the name of the village was held in 2016, and 15 participants out of 21 residents voted in favor of the renaming.
"Traffic signs were replaced, the public was informed, the representative body of the Medveda municipality formally decided to rename [the village] and now, according to all the documents, it is Putinovo," the lawyer said.
Curious tourists and journalists got attracted by the village. The cafe Crimea, the local club and the center of public life, was previously called Two Horns, but amid the anniversary of Crimea's rejoining with Russia and Putin's victory in the presidential election in March 2018, the cafe was renamed. According to Petronievich, Putinovo's residents eagerly await the visit of the Russian president and the tv broadcast, which will be watched in the cafe Crimea.
"We can say that the position indicating that the vast majority of Serbian citizens not only love Russia, but also follow Vladimir Putin's policies and adore him personally, dominates in public statements in newspapers, on television, and in other media... But when Serbian citizens are asked, where they would like to live, Russia is not among the first 15 desired countries," famous Serbian political scientist Dusan Janjic told Sputnik.
According to the expert, Belgrade officially says a lot about its close ties with Russia, but it does not inform citizens enough about the priorities of Moscow. The political analyst pointed out that it would be very useful for the Serbian party if the authorities of the republic and the media close to them sought to raise awareness of "Russia's capacities, especially in energy, infrastructure, investment, and culture, which is very close to Serbian one," among the public.
"Because the Serbian modernization is impossible without communications with Russia," the analyst added.
On January 17, the public association Belgrade Development Center will organize a rally with thousands of supporters of the Serbian-Russian friendship and a solemn procession in the center of Belgrade in honor of Putin's arrival.
Local media reported that with the assistance of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, led by Vucic, up to 70,000 people could participate in the event, which would be a huge number in the conditions of winter Belgrade.
The Serbian opposition accused Vicic that he was doing that to regain the support of voters amid weekly mass protests. Bosko Obradovic, the president of Serbian opposition Movement Dveri, wrote an open letter to Putin, warning him about "the risk of exploitation of his visit by the current authorities for the short-term political purposes" and invited him to meet Vucic's opponents in the country's parliament.
Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who is famous for his singing at official events for foreign delegations, told reporters in late December that he was rehearsing Russian songs Kalinka-Malinka and Podmoskovnye Vechera and would be happy to sing them to Moscow guests.
The largest fountain on Belgrade's Slavija Square has been lit up in the colors of the Russian and Serbian flags by the decision of the city authorities. But Serbian officials are not the only ones who are preparing for the arrival of the Russian president.
A huge banner with the image of intertwined Serbian and Russian flags and the words "Russia. Serbia" was hung up on the wall of a multi-storey building near the road from the airport to the city center.
Citizens on the streets and in social networks are also actively discussing the upcoming arrival and the proposed route of the Russian delegation. The largest gathering of people is expected at the Orthodox Church of Saint Sava in the center of Belgrade, where Putin and Vucic are expected to arrive for a meeting with Serbian Patriarch Irinej. The Saint Sava's mosaic decoration is sponsored by Russian companies.
Prior to the visit of the Russian president, the oldest Belgrade Orthodox Church of the 18th century, dedicated to St. Nicholas, consecrated gold-plated altar cross handmade by local craftsmen. Belgrade's municipality of Zemun, parishioners of the church and members of the Serbian Martial Arts Association Svebor prepared the cross as a gift to Putin.
"Our gift is dedicated to the century-long Russian-Serbian friendship and the 22th anniversary of the swim for the Holy Cross celebrating the Epiphany in Serbia and here in Zemun. Vladimir Putin is the most important of Orthodox believers, who support the Epiphany tradition and the only one of all presidents and heads of state, who plunges into the water on this holiday," the elder of the Svebor Association, Tsvetko Stoyanovich, told Sputnik.
He recalled that one of the most important Orthodox holidays would come just a day after the visit of the Russian president, on January 19.
