Serbia

**Serbia**, officially the **Union of Greater Serbia**, is a sovereign state in Central and Southeastern Europe in the Balkans. Serbia borders Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary and Romania.

## History

### Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century

In the course of the First Balkan War in 1912, the Balkan League defeated the Ottoman Empire and captured its European territories, which enabled territorial expansion into Raška and Kosovo. The Second Balkan War soon ensued when Bulgaria turned on its former allies, but was defeated, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest. In two years, Serbia enlarged its territory by 80% and its population by 50%. The assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Young Bosnia organization, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. In defense of its ally Serbia, Russia mobilized its troops, which resulted in Austria-Hungary's ally Germany declaring war on Russia.

As the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, the territory of Syrmia united with Serbia on 24 November 1918, followed by Banat, Bačka and Baranja a day later, thereby bringing the entire Vojvodina into the Serb Kingdom. On 26 November 1918, the Podgorica Assembly deposed the House of Petrović-Njegoš and united Montenegro with Serbia. On 1 December 1918, Serbian Prince Regent Alexander of Serbia proclaimed the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes under King Peter I of Serbia. King Peter was succeeded by his son, Alexander, in August 1921. Serb centralists and Croat autonomists clashed in the parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. Nikola Pašić, a conservative prime minister, headed or dominated most governments until his death. King Alexander changed the name of the country to Yugoslavia and changed the internal divisions from the 33 oblasts to nine new banovinas.

In 1941, in spite of Yugoslav attempts to remain neutral in the war, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia. The territory of modern Serbia was divided between Hungary, Bulgaria, Independent State of Croatia and Italy (greater Albania and Montenegro), while the remaining part of Serbia was placed under German Military administration, with a Serbian puppet governments led by Milan Aćimović and Milan Nedić. The victory of the Communist Partisans resulted in the abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent constitutional referendum. A single-party state was soon established in Yugoslavia by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. In 1989, Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia. Milošević promised a reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently took over power, during the Anti-bureaucratic revolution.

This ignited tensions with the communist leadership of the other republics, and awoke nationalism across the country that eventually resulted in the Breakup of Yugoslavia, with Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo declaring independence. Serbia and Montenegro remained together as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars erupted, with the most severe conflicts taking place in Croatia and Bosnia, where ethnic Serb populations opposed independence from Yugoslavia. On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum to determine whether to end its union with Serbia. The results showed 55.4% of voters in favor of independence, which was just above the 55% required by the referendum. On 5 June 2006, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia to be the legal successor to the former state union.

### Recognition of Kosovar Independence

In early 2020, Russia expressed it's intent to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. This signaled a shift in Russian policy towards Serbia, since Russia and China had been blocking Kosovar membership to the United Nations. On 7 April, China recognised Kosovo, and on 20 June, Russia permitted Kosovo non-member observer status of the United Nations. Facing pressure from the international community, the Serbian government announced a referendum on the status of Kosovo. 50.8% of the population of Serbia voted in favour of recognising Kosovo, making Kosovo to become the first country to be recognised by another country by popular vote.

However, despite Serbia renouncing its claims to Kosovo, they maintained their claim over North Kosovo. Upon the official opening of the Serbian embassy in Pristina, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, called for Kosovo to hold a referendum on the status of North Kosovo, and allow the Serbs there the right to determine their future. On 2 September, the population of North Kosovo voted 69.8% in favour of reunification with Serbia.