Western sanctions pressure doesn’t affect Serbs’ perception of Belarus as strategically significant partner, poll shows
Serbs consider agriculture, food and trade to be the most promising areas of co-operation with Belarus – as noted by Senior Research Fellow Dusan Prorokovic, the Director of the Centre for Eurasian Studies at the Institute of International Politics and Economics, when referring to a recent opinion poll, BelTA reports
Serbs see the development of long-term relations between Serbia and Belarus as promising, especially in the sphere of agriculture and food (51.3 percent), trade (28.6 percent) and mechanical engineering (26.6 percent). Within the framework of economic relations, Serbs emphasise the importance of developing trade and wider representation of the two countries’ products in the markets of Belarus and Serbia. Among the most famous Belarusian brands are the leaders of mechanical engineering (MAZ, MTZ), flagships of household appliances (Atlant, Gefest), manufacturers of cosmetics (Belita) and confectionery (Kommunarka). It is noteworthy that the Western sanctions pressure exerted on Belarus does not affect the perception of Belarus by Serbs as a strategically significant partner. According to Serbs, education, tourism, culture and religion are priority areas for the development of co-operation in the social sphere.
Serbs also consider it necessary to develop liaisons with Belarus in such areas as production (80.9 percent), education and science (78.7 percent), trade and economy (77.8 percent), tourism (70.2 percent), culture (67.3 percent), society (64.1 percent), religion (56.4 percent), and finance (40.1 percent).
Infographic by BelTA
“It was very interesting for us to see what our society, citizens think about Belarus. For me, the most important thing is that this is the first step for further research. We need to think not only at the political but also at the scientific level how to make progress, how to develop bilateral relations with friendly states. Belarus is on the first line here, and the first step is this research,” Mr. Prorokovic emphasised. “Our society supports co-operation with the Republic of Belarus. Serbia can be a window for Belarusian products to the European Union because of the agreements we have with the EU, while Belarus can be a window for our production in the EAEU. The space for interaction is wide. We can do joint projects in the economy. Your MAZ and BelAZ vehicles work well in Serbia. Serbia knows that Belarus is an agro-industrial country. You have a very strong agro-industrial complex, while the development of tourism will help us learn more about each other.”
The development of relations with friendly states requires constant consideration of public opinion and requests. One of the ways is to conduct a cross country opinion poll: two sociological centres simultaneously organise a representative survey in their respective countries using a similar methodology and pre-agreed tools (questionnaire).
In December 2024, a cross country opinion survey was conducted by Belarus and Serbia. In Serbia, the opinion poll was organised by the Institute for International Politics and Economics with the involvement of House of Win, an independent research centre specialising in sociological and marketing research. The sociological research was conducted via telephone interviews (covering 1,590 respondents). In Belarus, the survey was conducted via door-to-door interviews (covering 1,500 respondents) by the Centre for Social and Humanitarian Research of the Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU), which has extensive experience in conducting such international surveys as part of the study of socio-economic relations. The main goal was to identify the peculiarities of mutual perception of Belarusians and Serbs, to determine the most promising areas of co-operation and development of friendly relations between the two countries. Taking into account the coincidence of the time of the sociological research with the election campaign in Belarus, a separate block of questions in the Belarusian part of the study concerned citizens’ assessment of the socio-political situation and citizens’ electoral priorities.