A clash between two Russias within one Serbia: how do Russian refugees live in the Balkans?

A small cozy courtyard in the very center of Belgrade is hung with paintings depicting local landscapes, temples and still lifes. Artist Elisabeth Irsanska has to quickly sell her works before leaving Serbia. Her husband, Evgeniy, had his residence permit revoked - as he suspects, for active anti-war activities and connections with the Russian dissident movement in Serbia. Evgeny’s story is already the third case when representatives of the anti-war wave of the diaspora are faced with refusals of a residence permit.

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Anti-war immigration

Evgeniy and his friends themselves do not understand why the young man displeased the Serbian authorities. Meanwhile, both friends and associates of Evgeniy, as well as guys who don’t know him, come to the farewell sale. This is a new wave of so-called “anti-war immigration.” Not all of them are political activists, but all of them sooner or later left Russia because of the war and have a very negative attitude towards it. All these guys have similar problems: how to get legalized in a new country, in which bank you can open an account with a Russian passport, and where you can rent an apartment cheaper.

Some of the new immigrants managed to scrape together money to buy real estate in Serbia, while others became legalized by opening an individual entrepreneur. Some have already found work, while others continue to work illegally, making a monthly “visaran”, that is, formally leaving Serbia to renew their legal stay in the country. As a rule, these are unmarried couples or young families, most often childless, or even just single young people who have decided to start life from scratch.

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They brought to Serbia not only the language and cultural habits, but also part of the atmosphere of their native Russian cities. Rock concerts are periodically held in secluded bars here, where music familiar from childhood is played. Theatrical readings and film screenings, concerts of touring stars, Russian restaurants - all these places are imbued with nostalgia and involuntarily evoke associations with white immigrants who came to Serbia a hundred years ago. Today's relocants are not sure whether they will ever be able to return to Russia, but they sincerely want to preserve at least a piece of their peaceful, pre-war homeland in their new place.

«Here you can freely engage in creativity, create something and share it with others. And most importantly, you can meet like-minded people literally at every step“, – artist Larisa shares her impressions.

Persecuted without guilt

Along with these spontaneous centers of culture, the so-called “Russian House” continues to operate in Belgrade, in which, as if nothing had happened, conferences, exhibitions dedicated to Dostoevsky or Leo Tolstoy, screenings of films about love, mercy and orphans, and other manifestations of a completely “peaceful” cultural life. Russia House events are attended mainly by “old” immigrants who are no longer the first generation living in Serbia, divorced from the realities of modern Russia, but at the same time invariably supporting the Kremlin’s policies. Along with them, regulars at the events are Russophile Serbs, as well as some representatives of the new wave of immigration who came to Serbia not only from Russia, but also from Europe and even the USA.

Such immigrants cite the citizenship discrimination they encountered in previous countries as the main reason for moving.

«I lived in France for many years, having a residence permit, when suddenly my account was blocked, Vitaly complains. – However, I did not have any suspicious transactions. Not to mention the fact that in Western Europe it is now simply impossible to do business with partners from Russia and receive at least some transfers even from close relatives».

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It is interesting that, contrary to stereotypes, not all of these people were pro-Putin, and at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many of them sharply opposed the war. However, according to them, after the first few months, during which they encountered prejudice, some of them became embittered, if not to the level of support for the war, then at least to the point of cold indifference.

«I personally encountered the fact that in Europe, waiters refused to serve me in a restaurant, hearing me speak Russian with my child. The child himself began to be bullied at school only because he was born in Moscow, and I myself was denied promotion at work, although the issue had already been practically resolved, having learned that in the summer, even before the war, I went on vacation to Russia“, complains Natalya from Germany.

«Of course, war and killing people is terrible, but instead of wasting energy on Ukrainian refugees and helping them survive, we are now forced to deal with our own survival. I don't know who's better off“,” her husband Maxim echoes Natalya.

«In Germany, I never went to a Russian cultural center, but now I felt such a need to show, in spite of everything: yes, I am Russian, I have the right to watch Russian films, and no one can deprive me of this right because of someone else’s crimes . I don’t want to pretend to be a foreigner and look for non-existent roots of other nationalities."He adds.

Ideological refugees from Europe

However, among the refugees from Europe there are also quite ideological supporters of the war.

«Here in Serbia, I am not afraid to say that I support my homeland. This is completely natural, I have only one, and there cannot be another“says Marina, who moved to Serbia after fifteen years in the United States.

But the married couple, Lydia and Konstantin, are rather indifferent to political issues. According to them, they fled to Serbia from a “liberal dictatorship.”

«It is important for us that our children are raised in normal, traditional values. Serbia is perhaps the last bastion of such values ​​in Europe, but without unnecessary Russian militarism", they claim.

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These two very different Russias have strangely come together today in one country - a country where you can meet Ukrainian refugees, anti-war activists, pro-Kremlin Europeans and other people of various nationalities and beliefs. So far, they have all managed to coexist relatively peacefully with each other and solve very similar everyday problems.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read all this on ForumDaily New York.

The immigrants themselves express the hope that Serbia will remain a free country, and a variety of people can find a place here.

«After all, if we don’t like someone, we shouldn’t forget that someone might not like us just as much.“, they note philosophically.

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