Belgrade Syndicate: Dozens of Russian elites with close ties to the Kremlin received Serbian passports after Ukraine invasion with visa-free access to the EU
Belgrade Syndicate: Dozens of Russian elites with close ties to the Kremlin received Serbian passports after Ukraine invasion with visa-free access to the EU
Russian elites are obtaining Serbian passports with visa-free access to the EU during the war. Among them are an FSB special forces member, a friend of Nikolay Patrushev, nuclear weapons manufacturers, a close associate of Ramzan Kadyrov, and dozens of others
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The Serbian government wanted to launch golden passport programs in 2022 and then significantly simplify the issuance of citizenship to Russians working in the country, reducing the residency period before applying for citizenship to one year. But, as the Financial Times reported, the European Commission put pressure on Belgrade. They threatened to suspend the Serbia-EU visa-free regime, if the granting of citizenship through investor schemes is deemed to pose an increased risk to the internal security and public policy of the Member States of the European Union.
As IStories discovered, European countries still have something to fear. In hundreds of decisions on granting Serbian citizenship for services rendered from 2022 to April 2025, the names of dozens of Russians closely connected to the military-industrial complex, the Kremlin, oligarchs, state corporations, and even special services are listed. None of them appear on sanctions lists and, therefore, can travel freely with a Serbian passport.
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Several Russian billionaires from the Forbes list and people formerly associated with managing the assets of oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Alexei Mordashov also became citizens [of Serbia], however, there is no information about their current relationship with the Russian government.
