Serbs are a people with ancient traditions and a broad soul. Serbs in Russia
There is a lot of talk about girls marrying Italians or Europeans. But for some reason there are not so many representatives of the fair half who have chosen a Serb as their husband, or it is simply not made public. But, nevertheless, they marry Serbs and many want to know what they can expect from this marriage, what dangers may lie in wait after family life begins, and in general, what they should be prepared for.
In principle, the Serbs, unlike other peoples, such as Italians, Europeans, Muslims, are closest in their mentality to the Russian people; in fact, they are our blood brothers. True, you should not think that there is no difference between a Russian man and a Serb. Such an opinion would be wrong. The character of this small people was also influenced by the location of the territory in which they live, as well as the numerous conflicts in which the Serbian people were drawn. So, what awaits you if you decide to marry a Serbian?
Serbs have a special attitude towards women. This may be partly explained by the fact that there are several times more men in Serbia than women. The men themselves are somewhat similar to the mountaineers, but do not confuse them with people from the mountains, which are the Caucasians and people close to them, who do not value women at all. Among the Serbs it will be difficult to find a soft-spoken guy; rather, most of them are slightly rude men with a tough character. And Serbia itself is a country where patriarchy reigns, but at the same time women are highly revered and respected, which is already much better than the patriarchy that rules in the East. It is quite difficult to meet a Serb who abuses alcohol. They are very restrained in their alcohol consumption.
When living with a Serb, be prepared for the blood feud that is practiced in the area. Serbs hold each other very tightly, and family is sacred to them. Therefore, if someone encroached on this shrine, then one can only sympathize with this unfortunate person. The whole village or city will take up arms against him.
You don't have to worry about how you will be received by your family. Today in Serbia there are a lot of girls from Ukraine, Russia and the CIS countries who married a Serb, so sometimes a snobbish desire to preserve the purity of the family and survive as a foreigner will not be a threat to your family. As a rule, the son's wife is welcomed into the house, showing her every honor. But at the same time, I will expect from you respect and obedience to your elders. The husband's family, and especially his mother, will occupy one of the most important places in your new family. The ideal wife for a Serb is a calm and not hot-tempered girl, because men have a hot-tempered and explosive character, and you will have to somehow extinguish the passions in his soul. It will be more problematic for a girl with character to get along with a Serb, but the main thing here is desire and love, then you will be able to tame this highlander. You shouldn’t expect wild romance in a relationship, but you will feel like you’re behind a stone wall with him. Despite the fact that Serbs are a little rude and can make jokes about women, they protect their women and do not give offense. And the Serbs have a special attitude towards Russian and Slavic girls, they idolize them, since Slavic girls, in the Serbian understanding, personify the ideal wife: beautiful, sexy, homely, loving family and comfort, unlike European girls who rely on a career, and only then do they think about starting a family.
The Serbian people are very welcoming and hospitable, and holidays are celebrated on a grand scale. The festivities are especially beautiful in villages where the breath of Europe has not yet penetrated. In this, the Serbs are also very similar to the Russian people, who, if they walk, do so in a way that can be heard at the other end of the village.
Of course, it was not without its drawbacks. Most Serbs are very self-confident and consider themselves to be irresistible male seducers. Often such confidence is not based on anything and at heart it will turn out to be either a simple guy, which would be the best option, or a complex and boorish type hiding behind this guise in order to attract women.
You should not expect Serbs to be highly educated, discuss the influence of the avant-garde on modern painting, the classics on raising children, and similar topics. As a rule, these men are very down-to-earth in their judgments and desires. They cannot be called stupid or uneducated, they just have a completely different outlook on life. They may not understand why they need to distinguish the paintings of Shishkin from Sokolov, or how Bosch differs from Bach. But they can tell you many wonderful legends of their region, and will be well versed in farming and agriculture, which, in their opinion, is more important in order to live a normal life. Therefore, if you were hoping to get an intellectual as your husband, with whom you could have small talk, then choosing a Serbian husband would not be the most ideal.
Serbs, as already mentioned, are very hot-tempered. Therefore, try in advance to get used to the fact that you will be jealous of all the men who will be in your environment if you move to Serbia. It is very important to get to know your husband better before the wedding, because almost all Serbs can be divided into two groups. The first one is very respectful of Russian girls; in a marriage with such a man, although you will have to obey a man’s harsh word, you will receive love and affection in return. But the second type, on the contrary, considers girls from Russia to be persons of easy virtue who do not deserve respect. These people will not even stop before raising their hand to a woman. Fortunately, the latter are in the minority.
But the Serbs love children very much, and here the attitude towards them is rather closer to the East. During a divorce, not a single Serb will give his children to his mother, but will insist and fight for the children to stay with him. Of course, you will be allowed to visit them, but they are unlikely to give you up for foster care.
It is best in relations with the Serbs to adhere to the tactics that the Serbs themselves have chosen. They obey their husband in everything. They will not make trouble or shout at their husband if they disagree with him on something. But they know how to make their husband do what they want. By the way, there is a Russian proverb about this: The husband is the head, the wife is the neck. Wherever I want, I turn there. Therefore, you need to achieve something from the Serbs not with shouts and scandals, but with your intelligence and cunning. In general, among marriages with Serbs there is much less divorce than, for example, with Eastern men. The main thing is to constantly learn to be a woman and a wife, then your Serbian husband will simply idolize you.
Journalist Katarina Lane wrote a very heartfelt article about Serbian men. She herself is happily married to her Russian husband; together with him they live and work in the Balkans. So her view of the situation can be called both a view from the outside and from the inside:
Before traveling to Serbia, I had never met a single Serb, and therefore I was in for a shock at the airport. While looking for my gate, I noticed several dark-haired men in the crowd talking and laughing loudly. I thought then that it was a sports team flying to training camp. I was surprised at how big the team was; they took up almost the entire plane. Coming out of the airport in Belgrade, it became clear that the whole country could be included in the national team. Since then, I’ve been looking for my gate to a Serbian flight only this way: if handsome dark-haired men tower somewhere above the crowd, then this is almost one hundred percent a flight to Belgrade.
Like behind a stone wall
We are Russians, for the most part, women who understand the word “married” in its traditional meaning: behind a husband, like behind a stone wall. And we look for and choose men as our companions with whom we feel confident and calm. I, as the owner of 157 centimeters in height, which in Russia is called “a meter with a cap,” next to any Serbian man I feel like a little defenseless girl. It’s a pleasant feeling, I won’t hide it. In Russia, in general, men look completely different, they are much shorter, and this difference is immediately noticeable. This is the first captivating impression that Serbian men make on Russian women.
Sports style and character
Serbs are very fond of sports, everyone supports their favorite football or basketball team, in every yard there is a sports ground where boys play with the ball from morning to evening. On an ordinary city provincial beach it is easy to meet men who can be safely photographed for the cover of a sports magazine. Love for sports, in addition to everything else, develops such a character quality as stubbornness. The number of Russian women married to Serbs shows that Serbs know how to achieve what they want! Sportswear also suits them. That's why they wear it everywhere, but it looks very harmonious. Well, or every day I meet only those who are after sports or on the way to the gym!
Heroic people
Cover photo: Milos Bikovic. Photographer, Yulia Khanina.
201,637
Switzerland 191,500
Austria 177,300
USA over 170,000
Republic of Kosovo 140,000
Canada 100,000-125,000
Netherlands 100,000-180,500
Sweden 100,000
Australia 95,000
Great Britain 90,000
France 80,000
Italy 78,174
Slovenia 38,000
Macedonia 35,939
Romania 22,518
Norway 12,500
Greece 10,000
Hungary 7,350
Russia 4,156 - 15,000 (according to Serbian sources)
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Ethnogenesis
There are several theories about the origin of the Serbs.
According to the records of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Serbs (now as a single Slavic people) migrated south in the 7th century during the reign of the Byzantine king Heraclius and settled within modern-day Southern Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. There they mixed with the descendants of local Balkan tribes - Illyrians, Dacians, etc.
A thousand years later, during the Ottoman conquests in Europe, many Serbs, under pressure from the Turkish aggressors who ravaged the country, began to leave to the north and east beyond the Sava and Danube rivers in the territory of present-day Vojvodina, Slavonia, Transylvania and Hungary. Later, in the 18th century, thousands of Serbs went to the Russian Empire, where they were allocated lands for settlement in Novorossiya - in areas called New Serbia and Slavyanoserbia.
Ethnographic groups of Serbs
Ethnographic groups of Serbs are divided mainly according to dialects of the Serbian language. Shtokavian Serbs are the largest group. There are also Gorani and other ethnographic groups.
Resettlement
The main area of residence of the Serbs is Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are also separate regions in other countries where Serbs have lived for a long time: in Macedonia (Kumanovo, Skopje), Slovenia (Bela Krajina), Romania (Banat), Hungary (Pecs, Szentendre, Szeged). Sustainable Serbian diasporas exist in many countries, the most prominent being in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Australia. Diasporas in New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile, although not as large, are not disappearing, but on the contrary, they continue to grow.
The exact number of Serbs living in diasporas outside the Balkans has not been established and, according to various sources, varies from approximately 1-2 million to 4 million people (data from the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Serbia). In this regard, the total number of Serbs in the world is unknown; according to rough estimates, it ranges from 9.5 to 12 million people. The 6.5 million Serbs make up about two-thirds of Serbia's population. Before the military conflicts, 1.5 million lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 600 thousand in Croatia, and 200 thousand in Montenegro. According to the 1991 census, Serbs represented 36% of the total population of Yugoslavia, that is, about 8.5 million people in total.
The urban population is represented in Belgrade (1.5 million Serbs), Novi Sad (300 thousand), Niš (250 thousand), Banja Luka (220 thousand), Kragujevac (175 thousand), Sarajevo (130 thousand .). Outside of the former Yugoslavia, Vienna is the city with the largest number of Serbian inhabitants. A significant number of Serbs live in Chicago and the surrounding area and Toronto (with Southern Ontario). Los Angeles is known as a metropolis with a significant Serbian community, as are Istanbul and Paris.
Ethnic history
Map of the settlement of the Slavs and their neighbors at the end of the 8th century.
The history of Serbia dates back to the 6th century, from the moment the ancient Slavs settled the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. In the 8th-9th centuries, the first proto-state formations of the Serbs arose. In the 11th century, the territory of modern Serbia became part of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. After the establishment of the Nemanjic dynasty at the end of the 12th century, the Serbian state was freed from the rule of Byzantium and by the middle of the 14th century it developed into a major power covering almost the entire southwestern part of the Balkans. The heyday of medieval Serbia occurred during the reign of King Stefan Dusan (-). However, after his death the state collapsed. The fragmented principalities are unable to stop the Ottoman expansion; some of the princes in the south of the former kingdom of Dusan are forced to recognize themselves as vassals of the Ottoman Empire. In 1389, the combined forces of some Serbian princes (along with Bosnian units) are defeated by the Ottoman army in the Battle of Kosovo, leading to Serbia's recognition of the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. Serbia was finally conquered by the Turks in 1459, after the fall of Smederevo. Over the next 350 years, Serbian lands were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and the northern regions were part of the Austrian Empire from the end of the 17th century.
The Serbian principality was formed as a result of the First Serbian uprising in - gg. against Ottoman rule. The rebels elected Georgiy Petrovich, nicknamed Karageorgiy, who had previously served in the Austrian army as a non-commissioned officer, as their supreme leader. In 1811, at the assembly in Belgrade, Karageorgi was proclaimed the hereditary ruler of Serbia. But in 1813 the uprising was suppressed, Karageorgi fled to Austria. In 1815, the Second Serbian Uprising began, led by Milos Obrenovic, a participant in the First Uprising. It was successful, but only fifteen years later the Sultan officially recognized Milos Obrenovic as the ruler of Serbia. In 1817, Karageorge, who returned to Serbia, was killed on the orders of Milos Obrenovic. Under the terms of the Berlin Peace of 1878, Serbia gained independence, and in 1882 it was proclaimed a kingdom. By the beginning of the 20th century, a parliamentary monarchy had emerged in Serbia, and a rapid rise in the economy and culture began. Two dynasties of peasant origin - the Karadjordjevics and the Obrenoviches - succeeded each other on the throne in Serbia until 1903. In 1903, King Aleksandar Obrenovic and his wife Draga were killed in a palace coup. As a result of the Balkan Wars - gg. the territories of Kosovo, Macedonia and a significant part of the Sandjak were included in Serbia. In the First World War, Serbia took the side of the Entente countries. During the war, Serbia lost, according to some estimates, up to a third of its population. After the end of the war, Serbia became the core of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since Yugoslavia). During the Second World War, the territory of Serbia was occupied by the troops of Nazi Germany from April 1941, part of the state's territory was transferred to Germany's satellites - Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as Albania. In - gg. Serbia was liberated by the Soviet Army, partisans and regular units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia.
In 1945, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed (from 1963 to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), within which the People's Republic of Serbia was formed (from 1963 to the Socialist Republic of Serbia). In November 1945, the Assembly of Yugoslavia deprived the Karageorgievic dynasty of its rights to power. After the death of the permanent leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, the growth of interethnic confrontation and separatist protests supported from the outside led in the early 1990s to a series of civil wars and the collapse of Yugoslavia. The long period of socialists in power in Serbia, led by Slobodan Milosevic, ended in 2000 after the bombing of Serbian cities by NATO aircraft in March-June 1999 and the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces to Kosovo. In 2006, after a referendum held in Montenegro, the state union of Serbia and Montenegro ceased to exist, the Republic of Serbia lost access to the sea.
Medieval Serbian state
Settlement of the Slavs
The process of state formation among the Serbs was slowed down by the isolation of various Serbian communities and the lack of economic ties between them. The early history of the Serbs is characterized by the formation of several centers of statehood, which in turn became centers of unification of Serbian lands. Proto-state formations were formed on the coast - the sclavinias of Pagania, Zahumje, Travuniya and Duklja, in the interior regions (the eastern part of modern Bosnia and Sandjak) - Raska. Nominally, all Serbian territories were part of Byzantium, but their dependence was weak. Already in the 7th century, the Christianization of the Serbian tribes began, which ended in the second half of the 9th century with the direct participation of the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius. The emergence of the first monuments of Serbian writing in the Old Church Slavonic language dates back to the same time (initially using the Glagolitic alphabet, from the 10th century the transition to the Cyrillic alphabet began).
State formation
In the middle of the 9th century, under the influence of the attack on the Serbian regions of the proto-Bulgarians, a princely power and state was formed in Raska, headed by Prince (Župan) Vlastimir, who managed to push back the Bulgarians and subjugate part of the coastal territories. The hereditary principle of transfer of power, however, did not work out, which led at the end of the 9th century to civil strife, the weakening of Raska and its transition under the rule of first the First Bulgarian Kingdom, and then, after its fall, Byzantium. Some strengthening of Raska in the middle of the 10th century during the reign of Prince Caslav, who significantly expanded the territory of the state, was replaced after his death in 950 by the collapse of the country. At the same time, the active penetration of Bogomilism from Bulgaria began, which also contributed to the weakening of the central government in Raska. In - gg. Belgrade and the Morava Valley became the center of a massive Slavic uprising led by Peter Delyan against Byzantium.
Rise of Serbia
Under the immediate successors of Stephen the First-Crown, the Serbian state experienced a short period of stagnation and increased influence of neighboring powers, primarily Hungary. At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, Serbia found itself divided into two states: in the north, in Macva, Belgrade, the Branichev region, as well as in Usora and Soli, Stefan Dragutin, who relied on Hungary, ruled, the rest of the Serbian lands were under the rule of his younger brother Stefan Milutin , oriented mainly towards Byzantium.
Despite the temporary division of the state, the strengthening of Serbia continued: a centralized system of local government was formed, law was reformed, a system of internal communications was created, and the transition to a conditional holding and a pro-nation system in land relations began. At the same time, the influence of the higher clergy and the church increased. Monasticism actively developed, many Orthodox monasteries arose (including Studenica, Zica, Milesevo, Gracanica, as well as the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos), and their churches were built in accordance with the already established original Serbian architectural tradition (“Rash school”). Serbia's affiliation with the Byzantine-Orthodox world was finally consolidated, Catholic influence was practically eliminated, and the Bogomils were expelled from the country. At the same time, the process of Byzantinization of the public administration system began, and a pompous royal court was created, modeled on that of Constantinople. There was a rise in mining (largely due to the influx of Saxon settlers), agriculture and trade, in which Dubrovnik merchants played a decisive role. The population of the country increased rapidly and cities grew.
The heyday of the medieval Serbian state occurred during the reign of Stefan Dusan (-). In a series of military campaigns, Stefan Dušan subjugated all of Macedonia, Albania, Epirus, Thessaly and the western part of Central Greece. As a result, Serbia became the largest state in South-Eastern Europe. In 1346, Stefan Dušan was crowned King of the Serbs and Greeks, and the Archbishop of Pecs was proclaimed Patriarch. Serbo-Greek Kingdom Stefan Dusan combined Serbian and Byzantine traditions, the Greeks retained the highest positions in the cities and their land holdings, and the culture was strongly influenced by Greece. The Vardar style developed in architecture, the striking examples of which were the temples in Gračanica, Pec and Lesnov. In 1349, the Law of Stefan Dušan was published, formalizing and codifying the norms of Serbian law. The central power sharply strengthened, an extensive administrative system was formed on the Byzantine model, while maintaining the essential role of the meetings (sabors) of the Serbian aristocracy. The tsar’s internal policy, which relied on the large landed nobility and led to the expansion of its prerogatives, however, did not contribute to the strengthening and unity of the state, especially considering the ethnic diversity of Dusan’s state.
Collapse and Turkish conquest
Soon after the death of Stefan Dušan, his state collapsed. Part of the Greek lands again came under the rule of Byzantium, and semi-independent principalities were formed on the rest. In Serbia proper, large landowners (rulers) left the subordination of the central government, began to pursue their own policies, mint coins and collect taxes: in Zeta, the rule of Balšić was established, in Macedonia - Mrnjavčević, in Old Serbia and Kosovo - Prince Lazar, Nikola Altomanović and Vuk Branković . The unity of the Serbian lands after the death of the last representative of the Nemanjić dynasty, Stefan Uros V in 1371, was supported almost exclusively by the unity of the Orthodox Church in the person of the Peć Patriarchate, which in 1375 achieved canonical recognition by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1377, the Serbian crown was accepted by the ban of Bosnia, Stefan Tvrtko I, however, although his royal title was recognized by Prince Lazar and Vuk Branković, the power of Tvrtko I was purely nominal. Internecine wars between the princes greatly weakened the defense capability of the Serbian lands in the face of the growing Turkish threat. Already in 1371, in the Battle of Maritsa, the Turks defeated the troops of the southern Serbian rulers led by King Vukashin, after which Macedonia came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
An attempt to unite the Serbian lands to organize resistance to the Turks, undertaken by Prince Lazar with the support of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was unsuccessful: June 15, 1389 (on the day of St. Vitus - Vidovdan) in Battle of Kosovo Despite the heroic efforts of the Serbs, they were defeated. Prince Lazar died. Although his son Stefan Lazarevich retained his power, he was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire and participate in the Turkish campaigns. The Battle of Kosovo and the feat of Miloš Obilic, who killed the Ottoman Sultan Murad I at the beginning of the battle, later became one of the most important stories in Serbian national folklore, a symbol of self-sacrifice and unity of the Serbian people in the struggle for independence.
In the first half of the 15th century, when the onslaught of the Turks temporarily weakened due to the threat from Tamerlane, Stefan Lazarević attempted to restore the Serbian state. He accepted the Byzantine title of despot and, relying on an alliance with Hungary, which handed over Belgrade and Macva to him, he again subjugated Zeta (except Primorye), Srebrenica and a number of southern Serbian regions. The central administration was revived, the power of the prince was strengthened, mining and urban crafts were actively encouraged, and the ideas of humanism and the Renaissance began to penetrate Serbia. Architecture (“Moravian school”, represented, in particular, by the monasteries of Resava and Ravanica) and literature (works of Patriarch Danilo III and Stefan Lazarevich himself) experienced a new upsurge. Capital Serbian despotism became Belgrade, in which a well-fortified fortress was built, partially preserved to this day. Although Nis and Kruševac were lost as a result of a new Turkish invasion in 1425, and then Belgrade came under Hungarian rule, the new capital of Serbia - Smederevo, founded by the despot George Branković, experienced its heyday and won the glory of the second Constantinople. But already in 1438 another Ottoman offensive began. In 1439 Smederevo fell. The long campaign of the Hungarian troops of Janos Hunyadi in -1444 made it possible to expel the Turks from the territory of Serbia and briefly restore its independence. However, the defeat of the Crusaders at Varna in 1444, the defeat of the Hungarian army in the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448 and the fall of Constantinople in 1453 determined the fate of the country. In 1454, Novo Brdo and Pristina were captured, and in 1456 Belgrade was besieged. Finally, in 1459, Smederevo fell. By 1463, Bosnia had been conquered, Herzegovina and, finally, in 1499, Zeta Mountain. The Serbian state ceased to exist.
Socio-economic development
The basis of the economy of the medieval Serbian state was agriculture, primarily farming, as well as cattle breeding, especially in mountainous areas. Significantly longer than in Bulgaria and Croatia, large patriarchal families - zadrugi - and the communal system remained important in Serbia. Collective ownership of land continued to dominate the peasant economy. Gradually, however, the processes of feudalization of land relations and enslavement of peasants intensified. Already in “The Lawyer of Stefan Dusan” the dependent position of the peasantry was legally established and the right of transition was abolished.
Serbs are a people of the South Slavic tribe, most closely related to, with whom many South Slavic, Western European and some Russian (for example, Florinsky) Slavists unite them under one general name of Serbo-Croats, Serbo-Croatian tribe or people. The common origin of Serbs and Croats is beyond doubt, but the historical life of both peoples has drawn a boundary between them: the Serbs, with their Orthodox faith, with the Cyrillic script and the old Slavic-Serbian script, belong to the Eastern European, Greek Orthodox world, while the Croats with Catholicism, the Latin alphabet , Old Dalmatian poetry should be attributed to the Western European, Roman Catholic world.
The mutual relations of both peoples in history represent more examples of enmity than friendship. It was only in the 19th century that the Croats adopted the Shtokavian dialect spoken by the Serbs as a literary language. This adverb is almost the only connection between both peoples, who never cease to quarrel where they live “under the same roof.” Expressions such as Serbo-Croatian, etc., are a compromise, a mutual concession, but only on the part of a relatively small handful of intellectuals and scientists.
At the same time, it is almost impossible to draw an exact boundary between the settlements of Serbs and Croats even in the last century, because the Serbs during Turkish rule, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, moved in large numbers from their original places to the territory of the Croats. In general, we can still say that the Serbs live in compact masses in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Montenegro and the neighboring Austro-Hungarian and Turkish regions: in the Kosovo vilayet, in Dalmatia (in the Kotor district), where they were transferred as military colonists during the time of the Venetians (in the 17th century), in, in the former Military Frontier, where they moved in the 16th and 17th centuries. from Turkish possessions, in the South, where they moved from the Old at the end of the 17th century. In addition, Serbs live here and there in the Danube, in Western and in Russia.
The typical Serb is tall rather than short, broad-shouldered and stately; he has a proportional, beautifully set head with a thin, straight, often aquiline nose and somewhat prominent cheekbones; rather long neck with a large Adam's apple; The hair on the head is dark, sometimes ashen or light brown, less often black. The whole figure of the Serb, with his proudly raised head and impressive posture, is distinguished by a warlike appearance. A Serbian woman has regular facial features, a slender figure and noble posture, while Montenegrin women do not have regular features, their figure is less representative, but they are much stronger, more graceful and more elastic in their movements
The main feature of the Serbian character is a boundless, almost exalted love of independence. All Serbs consider themselves equal and equal. They became equal under Turkish rule, when all their nobility disappeared, partly dying in battle, partly converting to Islam and merging with the Turks, and partly moving to other lands. In the subject lands there was only one powerless “paradise” left, in which all the remnants of the surviving noble families disappeared without a trace. The love of independence forced many to leave home and family, and go to the mountains, to the “celebration” of Haidutsk, in order to take revenge with an armed hand on the oppressors of their people; from time to time the whole people rose to their feet.
The Serbian energy does not flare up immediately; often he seems indifferent, even on important occasions without outwardly revealing any emotional movement. In general, Serbs are distinguished by moderation and endurance, courage and fearlessness. He sleeps both in winter and in summer on the bare ground or adobe floor of his hut, covered only with a straw mat or, at best, a carpet. A thrifty, thrifty Serb always has his own benefit in mind; nevertheless, like all inhabitants of the East, he is hospitable.
Family ties among Serbs are strong; kinship, even distant ones, is valued. In addition to blood kinship, there is also a named kinship - twinning and sisterhood, nepotism or nepotism, etc.
Religion is of great importance in the life of Serbs, but his religious beliefs are mixed with various superstitions and beliefs, which he stubbornly adheres to. There are many customs and rituals that accompany the most important moments in a person’s life, as well as famous holidays and days of the year. Serbs love music, singing and dancing. Songs accompany all ceremonies, both wedding and funeral.
The national clothing of Serbs of both sexes consists of a wide canvas shirt with folds, belted with a wide belt, into which men can tuck weapons - a dagger and pistols. Over this shirt, another jacket or half-caftan is worn, sleeveless or with sleeves, of different lengths - short to the waist and long to the knees and even below the knees. On the head there is a red fez, which for Montenegrins is replaced by a black cap with a red center bottom. In bad weather, wear a cloak made of coarse cloth. In addition, sheepskin coats and short fur coats, fur hats, and woolen shirts are used. This outfit is only in villages remote from cities and roads.
The national home of the Serbs consists of an adobe hut. To construct it, roughly finished pillars or beams are driven into the ground, between which crossbars made of poles or brushwood are stretched, and then all the empty space is filled with bricks made of raw clay or a mixture of clay and chopped straw; the roof is made of wood or straw. The floor is adobe; There is usually no stove or fireplace; only a hearth is built, the smoke from which escapes through a hole in the roof.
National dishes: maize, milk, cheese, dried fish, pork fat, beans, garlic, red pepper (paprika), lamb, goat, pork.
Changing your place of residence and settling in the territory of another country is the dream of many Russian citizens. Typically, the preferences of Russian immigrants are aimed at choosing a country that is related in mentality and language; Serbia is one of such countries.
How popular has it been to live and work in Serbia in recent years?
Immigration to the Balkans from Russia is by no means a popular destination. Being a European country, Serbia is inferior in quality of life to the Czech Republic, Germany or Sweden. But immigrants from Russia are attracted by other factors. First of all, the Balkans are interesting for Russians:
- Favorable natural climate.
- Good attitude of the population.
- Inexpensive housing, household goods, food.
- The atmosphere of European culture.
- Visa-free regime with Russia (up to 30 days from 2016) and Ukraine (up to 90 days from July 2018).
- Easy acquisition of residence permit status.
- Possibility of obtaining permanent residence.
Who immigrates to Serbia and why?
The reasons contributing to the departure of Russians to the Balkans, judging by the same reviews from migrants, are of a different nature. Thus, middle-aged people usually seek favorable conditions in Serbia to raise their children. Elderly people hope to ensure a calm, dignified old age. Entrepreneurs are attracted by business conditions that are softer than in their home country.
Serbia is a small country that is part of the European Union
Indeed, entrepreneurship here develops in an atmosphere of absence of pressure and corruption. None of the businessmen remembers the existence of the concepts of “roof” or “power” of officials. You can get your business back on its feet with minimal financial costs. But there are other problems.
...I live in Montenegro and often encounter Serbs. It seems that young people don’t even think about entrepreneurship. There's plenty of work to do. Take it, do it, earn money. Yes, the job is low-paid, but where does the high-paying one immediately come from? In a few years (3–5) there are prospects for good business. But they answer me - we don’t want to wait that long. We want it here and now. We’ll sell a couple of real estate properties and you can live comfortably for a year. Why work? But in both Serbia and Montenegro, the potential for expanding business is enormous...
Among Russian immigrants there is another category of people. These are citizens “without age” who are sick of the so-called Soviet image of their homeland. For them, immigration is a chance for a new life. They usually consider Serbia as a temporary place of residence before settling in the EU or Canada. As a result, most of them remain.
Number of migrants and places of their compact residence
In terms of the number of migrants arriving for permanent residence, Serbia is characterized by low numbers. Every year the total number of migrants, including from Russia, does not exceed 4 thousand people. The centers of compact residence of Russian migrants are Belgrade and nearby settlements. Almost half of all immigrants from Russia come from this territory.
The “Balkan” migration route passes through Serbia. Over the past three years, about 900 thousand people have walked along it. Most of them do not want to settle in Serbia and strive to join the EU.
Another area of compact residence, where a significant percentage of the rest of the Russian migrants are distributed, is the Yuzhno-Bachsky district. On the territory of the district there is the city of Novi Sad - this is the second settlement after Belgrade in terms of the number of migrants from Russia. Next, the following are built in a descending list:
- South Banat District;
- Srem district;
- Mochvansky district;
- Middle Banat District;
- North Bachsky District;
- other administrative territories.
Novi Sad is a city located in northern Serbia on the banks of the Danube
In addition to Russians, Ukrainians go to the Balkans for permanent residence. However, there are fewer migrants from Ukraine. The interests of immigrants from other CIS countries in Serbia are not at all high.
If the EU decides to resettle migrants between member countries on a quota basis, Serbia is, of course, ready to participate in this process. We are not just talking about this possibility - for us it is already a reality. There are about 4 thousand refugees on our territory, and we provide them with all possible assistance
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic
https://ru.euronews.com/2018/01/21/serbia-refugees
Life in Serbia through the eyes of Russians: reviews
Naturally, in Serbia many everyday aspects are different from the usual life in Russia.
Housing and other household details
Comfort of life is achieved thanks to low prices for goods, agricultural products, and services. Prices are also affordable for real estate. For example, a two-room apartment can be rented, paying an average of 100–150 euros per month of rent. This is evidenced by reviews of immigrants who have received a residence permit.
Migrants are also encouraged by the wide choice of housing - to suit different tastes. There are no restrictions on location either. You can easily rent or buy an apartment in the center of Belgrade, Novi Sad, and in small settlements. However, against the backdrop of such profitable deals, the issue of employment is very problematic. It is extremely difficult to find a job in Serbia. Therefore, some migrants cannot contain their emotions:
...It’s better not to see Serbia in a nightmare. Obtaining a residence permit makes sense for those who are already the owner of a stable business. Buying real estate in Serbia is complete nonsense. You risk burying your invested funds without return. Prospects for economic growth, development of the real estate market - all this is in dreams for at least 20 years ahead. The country exists on barter...
Vladimir
http://nesiditsa.ru/emigration
Just don’t forget that in 2014 there was a lot of flooding in Serbia, a lot of towns near Belgrade were flooded, you probably wouldn’t want to buy a formerly flooded home now. This is, for example, why I refused to buy an apartment in Obrenovac. You need to look at the map of flooding in 2014 in Serbia and select a town near Belgrade from this.
WorldMix
In Belgrade, I think housing is unreasonably expensive, old buildings in which the square footage is 1000 euros, if we talk about new Belgrade, in new buildings there are generally 2-3 thousand euros square, I filter the suburbs, it turns out that within an hour’s drive from Belgrade you can’t find less than 700 euros per square . Novi Sad, an hour and a half drive from Belgrade, is also expensive housing, 1000 euros per square meter, but here the Russians have raised prices, which also affects the fact that Gazprom and Lukoil have their main offices here. It’s really interesting that it’s 20 minutes from Novi Sad and the cost per square meter drops to 400–500 euros per square. By the way, the Serbs are very good builders and now they are making new buildings very high quality, in new buildings almost everywhere there is European-quality renovation, also all apartments are given as they say, come in and live. I really liked their new buildings, we simply don’t have anything like them in Kazakhstan, they are very interesting projects and look very nice. Spacious apartments with a very good layout. For example, in Yagodina, I just took a walk every morning and specifically went to look at these buildings and looked at them for a long time, appreciating them, I really liked it, you just can’t take your eyes off it, as they say.
WorldMix
https://forum.awd.ru/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=308612&start=80
Education and medicine
Those who moved to the Balkans claim that social benefits, in particular education and medicine, are at a high level. Remarkable fact: in Serbia it is impossible to obtain a certificate or diploma without actually studying, resorting to the well-established Russian practice of bribes. The medical field deserves the same characteristics. The quality of medical services is approaching the European level, while citizens of the country do not feel the high cost of medicine thanks to free health insurance.
Pension
The factor of high-quality and affordable medical care is one of the reasons for people of retirement age moving for permanent residence. For old people, an average level pension (Russian) is enough for a comfortable life in Serbia. Some live by renting out existing housing in their home country. As old-time emigrants see it, the Serbian atmosphere of life - measured and leisurely - has a beneficial effect on mood and health.
…We have a lot of pensioners in Serbia. They found a place where they would meet their old age with dignity. Russia, a raw material appendage of Europe, has completed its working age. Apart from pensions, she has nothing to give to pensioners. We have students in Serbia who wish to have an education that is valued on the world labor market. These are not Russian “crusts”, no one needs them. We have entire families in Serbia. They are trying to settle down, to naturalize. They hope to provide their children with a decent European future...
http://serbialife.ru/blog-o-serbii/
They don’t pay an old-age pension without 15 years of experience (maybe there are some kind of interstate agreements, but I doubt it).
https://forum.awd.ru/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=308612&start=80
How do Serbs treat Russians?
The main advantage for Russian immigrants in Serbia is the lack of feeling of life in a foreign land. The overwhelming majority of people who came from Russia confidently declare true friendly and brotherly feelings towards them on the part of the Serbs. True, there are also not very flattering reviews, which is natural given the diversity of human characters. Here is one of the comments read on a thematic resource:
…I want to say that when we went to Serbia, we thought everything was easy. Only we were wrong. There are a lot of dishonest people. The Russians are profiting from the Russians there. The Serbs themselves do not want to work, but they want to get free money. My husband and I have a modest business and rely only on ourselves. It’s very difficult for us, but we don’t want to go back. In Moscow, everyone over 40 sees no prospects. And at least it’s cheap to live in Serbia. Come. Look how Serbia lives...
Lika
http://nesiditsa.ru/emigration
Indeed, look at how the local population treats visitors. Go on holiday to the Balkans to see the realities of local life with your own eyes. This will be the best analysis of the atmosphere where you will have to live for at least three years before obtaining citizenship.
Fraternal peoples Russia and Serbia
Russian diaspora of Serbia, what is the “Russian House”
The Russian diaspora in Serbia began to form in the first decades of the 19th century. The first immigrants who created the Russian diaspora were officers of the “White” army, who by chance found themselves in the Balkans after the 1917 revolution. At that time, the number of Russians in Serbia was approaching 100 thousand people.
In 1933, a significant event occurred - the “Russian House” appeared in Belgrade. Immigrants created this unique symbol of their homeland in order to preserve the spirituality and moral principles of Russians who found themselves in exile. Immediately after the opening, the “Russian House” was visited by up to 2 thousand people daily. Today there are no more than 4–5 visitors per day.
The modern “Russian House” plays a slightly different role. This is a center of culture and science, where a diverse infrastructure is organized. The main idea put into the project when construction began was the connection between Russian immigrants and their homeland.