Moscow ally Serbia cracks down on anti-war Russians living in the Balkan country
Source: Associated Press
Moscow ally Serbia cracks down on anti-war Russians living in the Balkan country
BY DUSAN STOJANOVIC AND JOVANA GEC
Updated 12:05 AM EST, February 26, 2024
ROGACA, Serbia (AP) — When Elena Koposova signed an open letter against Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she didn’t expect a backlash in her newly adopted home state of Serbia.
After all, Serbia is formally seeking to join the European Union while adopting all the democratic values that go along with the membership, she thought. Now, she sees she was wrong.
Two years after signing the letter, the 54-year-old Russian woman is appealing an expulsion order after she was declared a threat to the national security of Serbia and her residency permit was revoked. The beleaguered literature translator said the only reason she could think of is the anti-war petition that she had signed.
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Koposova is not alone. Serbia opened its borders in recent years to tens of thousands of Russians fleeing the government of President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. Russian pro-democracy activists in the Balkan country now say at least a dozen recently faced entry bans or had their residency permits revoked on grounds that they pose a threat to Serbia’s security.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/serbia-russia-anti-war-putin-ukraine-e208310992bfb474aa5dbf7bc0193601
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