Romania-Serbia relations refer to the bilateral relations between Romania and the Republic of Serbia. The two countries share a 546.4 kilometre long border, both being located in Southeastern Europe. The two countries share a long history, religion and elements of culture and geography.
Unofficial relations were established during the first half of the 19th century, when both countries were under Ottoman suzerainty. Officially, they established diplomatic relations of April 26, 1879, one year after both countries achieved full independence from the Ottoman Empire.
The Principality of Serbia opened its first diplomatic mission in Wallachia in March, 1836, when it opened the Princely-Serbian Diplomatic Agency in Bucharest. However, 27 years later, in February, 1863, the first official diplomatic agency, with Kosta Magazinović as the first diplomatic agent, was opened. One month later, the first Romanian diplomatic agency was opened in Belgrade, on March 12/24, with Teodor Calimachi as the first diplomatic agent.[citation needed]
At the time, both Romania and Serbia were under Ottoman suzerainty, and were fighting for their independence. As the Great Eastern Crisis was reopened when the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire went to war in 1877, a coalition supporting the Russians was formed by Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. The latter three countries were granted independence following the Treaty of Berlin, signed on July 13, 1878.[1]
Post-independence relations
In 1879, the diplomatic agencies in Belgrade and Bucharest became legations, and the diplomatic agents became resident ministers. Lascăr Catargiu became the first resident minister of Romania in Serbia, and Milan A. Petronijević became the first resident minister of Serbia in Romania. Both Romania and Serbia became kingdoms, in 1881 and 1882, respectively, and their diplomatic representatives became "extraordinary envoy and plenipotentiary ministers". Officially, the legations from Belgrade and Bucharest became embassies in 1939.[2]
During the Second World War, Romania was led to become an Axis member, which made the country recognize the Independent State of Croatia after Yugoslavia's dismantle by Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria. This led to a diplomatic breakup of relations. Moreover, calls for Romania to annex parts of Yugoslavia, namely the ethnic Romanian villages in Morava and Danube banovinas, were made. Romania refused to annex any parts of Yugoslavia and relations were eventually reestablished after the proclamation of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the war ended.[citation needed]
The Soviet Army occupation of Romania at the end of the war led to the creation of People's Republic of Romania, a socialist satellite state of the Soviet Union. Understanding the nature of European geopolitics at the time, including the Tito-Stalin split, Romania and Yugoslavia had tense relations over the course of the first postwar years.[citation needed] After Romania broke up from the Soviet sphere of influence and became fully independent, relations were retaken and became really close, Romanian communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and Yugoslav leader Josif Broz Tito meeting more than twenty times until Tito's death in 1980. Tito-Ceaușescu cooperation led to the construction of the Iron Gates I and II Hydroelectric Power Stations, the biggest dams over the Danube and some of the biggest in Europe.[citation needed]
Yugoslavia also became the biggest host of Romanian refugees during the last decade of communism in Romania, when it became unbearable due to Ceaușescu's ambitions and rules.[citation needed] As the communism regime prohibited citizens of leaving the country, tens of thousands, if not even hundreds, of Romanian citizens from all across the country tried to evade Romania by illegally swimming or rowing across the Danube river into Yugoslavia, where they would be granted asylum and freedom to leave towards Western Europe, North America or Australia. Dozens of people died during their attempt.[citation needed]
Modern relations
Modern relations between Romania and Serbia began right after the Romanian Revolution and the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars. In the last decade of the 20th century, relations between the two countries were mostly affected after Romania decided to join the international community and enforced the embargo UN imposed over Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War, leading to a political rupture of the good historical relations between the two countries.
This, inadvertently, led to one of the biggest illegal trafficking network in Europe at the time. As the embargo prevented Yugoslavia from purchasing fuel, Romanian citizens, impoverished by the internal crisis inadvertently caused by the fall of the communist regime, began illegally crossing the Danube in order to sell petrol, diesel and other forms of fuel to their Serbian neighbours. During a two years period, between 1993 and 1995, a lot of Romanians in the villages on the Danube shore got rich by illegal means, helping their Serbian counterparts. Any form of gas in Yugoslavia was around five times more expensive than in Romania. The network abruptly shut down in 1995, and it is believed that, despite their position, the Romanian government involved in it. Around ten to twenty people were killed during those years, either by the Romanian border guards or other smugglers.[4]
Politic relations got even worse during the late years of the same decade, when Romania, on its way of accession to NATO, allowed NATO planes to use Romanian airspace in order to strike targets in Serbia. Supporting NATO during the Yugoslav Wars got Romania's position as an official NATO member in 2004. However, civilians continued showing support to Serbia, most Romanian citizens not agreeing with their government position.[5]
After the end of the Yugoslav Wars, relations gradually improved, with Romania supporting Serbia's integration with the international community. Nowadays, symbolizing the good relations between Romania and Serbia, there is in the former a sentence that says "Romania only has two friends: the Black Sea and Serbia". However, this phrase and the state of the relations between both has been disturbed by the Romanians in the Timok Valley in Serbia, where they are known in Serbian as "Vlachs", claiming a separate ethnic identity from the Romanians.[6][7]
Romania-Kosovo relations
Relations between Romania and the Republic of Kosovo are non-existent as of 2024. Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia caused debates and outrage in Romania, as the country strongly opposes any kind of self-determination and refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of Kosovo. Romania is among the five countries part of the European Union who does not recognize Kosovo, and one of the seven countries boycotting Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe in 2023.
On 18 February 2008, the very next day after Kosovo's secession from Serbia, a vote in the Parliament of Romania determined their position regarding Kosovo. The results were strongly against any recognition, with 357 ”No” votes and only 27 ”Yes” votes. Furthermore, both the president Traian Băsescu and prime minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu were opposed and announced their support for Serbia's territorial integrity. A potential change emerged during the leadership of Victor Ponta, prime-minister of Romania between 2012 and 2015, who stated that ”Romania must follow EU's lead" after the European Union urged Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain to reconsider their decisions regarding Kosovo. However, after his resignation, the Government of Romania never addressed a change in recognition.[8][9][10]
A recent example for the bitterness of the relations is a football match between the two national football teams in 2023. Their two national teams were drawn into the same group for the qualifiers to the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, and during the second-leg match between the teams at Arena Națională in Bucharest, an ultras group that is supporting the Romanian side, named ”Uniți Sub Tricolor” (”United Under Tricolour” in Romanian) displayed two banners quoting ”Basarabia e România” (”Bessarabia is Romania” in Romanian) and ”Kosovo je Srbija” (”Kosovo is Serbia” in Serbian) and began shouting pro-Serbia chants. The match was eventually interrupted in the 18th minute for almost an hour, after a Romanian fan threw a torch on the pitch and the Kosovar side left the pitch in protest. While negotiations were taking place, the Romanian gendarmerie removed the racist banners and tried to solve the issues. Romania eventually won the match 2-0, coming closer to the eventual qualification to UEFA Euro 2024. After the match, the Football Federation of Kosovo filed a report against the Romanian Football Federation to UEFA, demanding that Kosovo be awarded a 3-0 victory because of the events. The complaint was denied but the Romanian Football Federation was fined 52,000 Euros and ordered to play its next home match (against Andorra) without fans.[11][12][13]
Romania maintains a liaison office in Pristina, but not an embassy.
While Romania and Serbia do have good relations, the main reason of Romania's position is the Székely Land problem. "Székely Land" is the name of a region in Romania where the majority is composed of ethnic Hungarians and Székelys. Therefore, acknowledging the independence of Kosovo may lead Székely Land to seek for autonomy or even independence, with nationalist figures such as Corneliu Vadim Tudor claiming their intention is to instantly be absorbed into neighbouring Hungary, country that used to rule the region for hundreds of years. During the February 2008 vote, the results showed members of the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR, which actively supports Székely Land's autonomy within Romania, were responsible for most "Yes" votes. Hungary recognized Kosovo's independence on March 19 of the same year. [14]
Kosovo’s UEFA Nations League match against Romania was abandoned on 15 November 2024, after Kosovo players walked off the pitch in the 93rd minute due to offensive chanting from Romanian fans, including pro-Serbian slogans. The match was goalless at the time, and despite a five-minute ultimatum to return, Kosovo refused to continue. Franco Foda expressed disappointment over the loss of respect and cited unsafe conditions. Amir Rrahmani also condemned the chants, stating that the situation had escalated.[15]
Serbia borders four European Union member states while not being itself a member state. Out of 1343.4 kilometers of border, 546.4 are of shared border with Romania, which is considered to be one of Serbia's key allies in its European Union integration path.[18]
Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on December 22, 2009, and has become an official candidate on March 1, 2012. Before this, Romania unsuccessfully tried to veto Serbia on receiving the candidate status, quoting the lack of minority rights for the Romanian minority in Serbia. However, ever since then, Romania intensively intervened in Serbia's accession by sending aid in forms of financial and technical means to their Serbian counterparts.[19]
Romania has not recognized Kosovo's independence from Serbia despite European Union's general support for Kosovo's self determination. In order for Serbia to become a European Union member state, it is considered that it should recognize Kosovo's legitimacy, thing that was completely unacceptable for any Serbian government ever since Kosovo's declaration of independence or since Serbia applied for European Union membership. Kosovo itself tries to become a European Union member state but opposition from some European Union member states, as well as its disputed status, is making this very hard. Both Serbia and Romania are firm with their positions regarding Kosovo, thus making Serbia's accession to the European Union a harder mission.[citation needed] The 35th chapter of the negotiations between Serbia and the European Union regard the relations with Kosovo, and while some progress has been made, neither Belgrade's or Pristina's positions are clear.[citation needed]
From the late 14th- to the beginning of the 16th century a large number of Serbs lived in Wallachia and Moldavia.[20] Following Ottoman expansion in the 15th century, Serb mass migrations ensued into Pannonia.[20] Serbian Orthodox monasteries began to be built in the area from the 15th century, including Kusić and Senđurađ built by despotJovan Branković, and in the 16th century including Bezdin and Hodoș-Bodrog Monastery where built by the Jakšić family.[20] In the Ottoman period, many Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were built in the administrative unit Eyalet of Temeşvar, which comprised Banat and Southern Crișana which was called Pomorišje by the Serbs.[20]
In the spring of 1594, shortly after the beginning of the Austro-Turkish War (1593-1606), local Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Christians,[21][22] in the Eyalet of Temeşvar, started an uprising against Turkish rule. At first, rebels were successful. They took the city of Vršac and various other towns in Banat and started negotiations with Prince of Transylvania. One of the leaders of the uprising was local Serbian Orthodox Bishop Theodore.[23] After the crushing of the uprising in Banat, many Serbs migrated to Transylvania under the leadership of Bishop Teodor; the territory towards Ineu and Teiuș was settled, where Serbs had lived since earlier – the Serbs had their eparchies, opened schools, founded churches and printing houses.[24]
Ethnic Serbs are a recognized minority in Romania, with around 18,000 Serbs living in Romania, or around 0,1% of the total population. Most of them live in the counties of Arad, Caraș-Severin, Mehedinți and Timiș, located on the Serbian border. Notable examples of Serbian villages in Romania are Șvinița in Mehedinți county, with a 90% ethnic Serbian population, and Socol in Caraș-Severin county, with 50%. The community represents the oldest Serbian community outside of Serbia. [25]
Ethnic Serbs in Romania have the right to study up to high school and take the baccalaureate exam in their native language. One seat in the Chamber of Deputies is reserved for the ethnic Serb minority. Multiple Serbian orthodox churches are scattered through the Romanian part of Banat.
Most of the Serbs in Romania are Orthodox Christians; the vast majority belong to Serbian Orthodox Church Eparchy of Timișoara.
There are Serbian Orthodox Churches with several in Timișoara (Темишвар/Temišvar), with two in Arad (Арад), Reșița (Решица/Rešica), Lugoj (Лугош/Lugoš), Ineu (Јенопоље/Jenopolje), Buziaş (Бузјаш/Buziaš), Sânnicolau Mare (Велики Семиклуш/Veliki Semikluš), Pecica (Печка/Pečka), Nădlac (Nađlak/Нађлак), Ciacova (Чаково/Čakovo), Jimbolia (Жомбољ/Žombolj), Orşova (Оршава/Oršava), Moldova Nouă (Нова Молдава or Бошњак/Nova Moldova or Bošnjak), Deta (Дета) and Oravița (Оравица/Oravica).
Sveti Đurađ monastery (Манастир светог Ђорђа - Манастир свети Ђурађ / Manastir svetog Đorđa - Manastir sveti Đurađ). According to the legend, it was founded in 1485 by the Serbian despot, Jovan Branković. It was rebuilt in the 18th century.
Šemljug monastery (Манастир Шемљуг / Manastir Šemljug). It was founded in the 15th century.
As Daco-Romanian-speakers, the Vlachs have a connection to Roman heritage in Serbia. Following Roman withdrawal from the province of Dacia at the end of the 3rd century, the name of the Roman region was changed to Dacia Aureliana, and (later Dacia Ripensis) spread over most of what is now called Serbia and Bulgaria.[26][27] Strong Roman presence in the region persisted through the end of Justinian's reign in the 6th century.[28][pageneeded]
Starting in the early 18th century NE Serbia was settled by Romanians (then known by their international exonym as Vlachs) from Banat, parts of Transylvania, and Oltenia (Lesser Walachia).[29] These are the Ungureni (Ungurjani), Munteni (Munćani) and Bufeni (Bufani). Today about three quarters of the Vlach population speak the Ungurean subdialect. In the 19th century other groups of Romanians, originating in Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia), also settled south of the Danube.[30]
Ethnic Romanians are also a recognized minority in Serbia, with around 23,000 Romanians living in Serbia, together with an additional 21,000 so-called "Vlachs", which refer to the ethnic Romanian groups living south of the Danube.[citation needed] In total, Romanians and Vlachs account for around 0,6% of Serbia's total population, most of them living in villages and towns on the Romanian border, such as Mali Žam or Grebenac. Major cities of Serbia, such as Bor, Novi Sad, Vršac, Zaječar or Zrenjanin, also host numerous Romanians.[citation needed] Romanian language is an official language of the Autonomous Region of Vojvodina. Multiple Romanian orthodox churches are also scattered through Serbia, including the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Vršac.
Unlike in Romania, ethnic Romanians in Serbia do not have the right to study in their native language, and are not represented politically. This has led to brief diplomatic skirmishes between the two countries, including Romania's veto on Serbia's admission as a candidate state of the European Union. Furthermore, a scandal regarding the ethnic Vlachs in the Timok river valley is ongoing.[citation needed]
Vojvodina, officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital Belgrade and the Sava and Danube Rivers. The administrative centre, Novi Sad, is the second-largest city in Serbia.
The history of Serbia covers the historical development of Serbia and of its predecessor states, from the Early Stone Age to the present state, as well as that of the Serbian people and of the areas they ruled historically. Serbian habitation and rule has varied much through the ages, and as a result the history of Serbia is similarly elastic in what it includes.
Banat is a geographical and historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania ; the western part of Banat is in northeastern Serbia ; and a small northern part lies within southeastern Hungary.
Vršac is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical region of Banat.
The Military Frontier was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empire. It acted as the cordon sanitaire against incursions from the Ottoman Empire.
Podunavlje is the name of the Danube river basin parts located in Croatia and Serbia. Podunavlje is located on the southern edge of Pannonian Basin. In its wider meaning, the Croatian term refers to the area around the entire flow of the river Danube.
The Banjska Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery in the Banjska village near Zvečan, Kosovo.
Romanians in Serbia are a recognized national minority in Serbia. The total number of self-declared Romanians according to the 2022 census was 23,044, while 21,013 people declared themselves Vlachs; there are differing views among some of the Vlachs over whether they should be regarded as Romanians or as members of a distinctive nationality. Declared Romanians are mostly concentrated in Banat, in Vojvodina, while declared Vlachs are mostly concentrated in the Timok Valley, in eastern Serbia.
Ottoman Serbia refers to the Ottoman period in the history of Serbia. Various regions of medieval Serbia came under Ottoman rule already at the end of the 14th century, while the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459. Northern regions of what is now the Republic of Serbia were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire during later conquests, from 1521 to 1552. Since the Habsburg expansion towards those northern regions, in 1699 and 1716, Ottoman rule was gradually reduced to Serbian territories south of the Sava and Danube rivers (1739). From 1804 to 1830, the Principality of Serbia was restored, as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. It gained independence in 1878, and expanded into southern regions, thus reducing Ottoman control to the historical region of the Old Serbia, that was liberated in 1912, thus ending Ottoman rule in Serbian lands.
The Serbs of Vojvodina are the largest ethnic group in this northern province of Serbia. For centuries, Vojvodina was ruled by several European powers, but Vojvodina Serbs never assimilated into cultures of those countries. Thus, they have consistently been a recognized indigenous ethnic minority with its own culture, language and religion. According to the 2022 census, there were 1,190,785 Serbs in Vojvodina or 68.43% of the population of the province.
The History of the Serbs spans from the Early Middle Ages to present. Serbs, a South Slavic people, traditionally live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and North Macedonia. A Serbian diaspora dispersed people of Serb descent to Western Europe, North America and Australia.
The Patriarchate of Peć Monastery or the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć, is a medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery located near the city of Peja, Kosovo. Built in the 13th century, it became the residence of Serbian Archbishops. It was expanded during the 14th century, and in 1346, when the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was created, the Monastery became the seat of Serbian Patriarchs. The monastery complex consists of several churches, and during medieval and early modern times it was also used as mausoleum of Serbian archbishops and patriarchs. Since 2006, it is part of the "Medieval Monuments in Kosovo", a combined World Heritage Site along with three other monuments of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Mesić Monastery is a Serb Orthodox monastery situated in the Banat region, in the province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The monastery is situated near the village of Mesić, in the Vršac municipality. It was founded in the 15th century, although legend holds that it was built in 1225 by Arsenije Bogdanović of the Hilandar.
The Eparchy of Banat is an ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Banat region, Serbia. It is mostly situated in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, while the eparchy also includes a small south-western part of Banat that belongs to the City of Belgrade as well as village of Ostrovo that belongs to the city of Požarevac. The seat of the eparchy is in Vršac.
The Serbs of Romania are a recognized ethnic minority numbering 18,076 people (0.1%) according to the 2011 census. The community is concentrated in western Romania, in the Romanian part of the Banat region, where they constitute the absolute majority in two communes and the relative majority in one other. The community represents the oldest Serbian community outside of Serbia.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Serbia:
Relations between Hungary and Serbia, or Serbo-Hungarian relations form a part of the wider politics of Central and Southeast Europe. The two countries have a long relationship stretching back to the Middle Ages. History of official diplomatic relations of Hungary and Serbia dates back to 21 November 1882, when they were established between the Kingdom of Serbia and Austria-Hungary. Today, Hungary has an embassy in Belgrade and a general consulate in Subotica, while Serbia has an embassy in Budapest and an honorary consulate in Szeged.
Italy–Serbia relations are diplomatic relations between Italy and Serbia. The Kingdom of Italy established formal bilateral relations with the Principality of Serbia on 18 January 1879. The strategic partnership between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Italy was established in Rome on 13 November 2009. Italy is one of the member states of the European Union which strongly support Accession of Serbia to the European Union. Both countries are members of the Central European Initiative, OSCE, Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization.
Bezdin Monastery is a monastery of the Serbian community, located near the village of Munar in Arad County, Romania, on the right bank of the Mureș River. Bezdin Monastery is one of the few remaining Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Romania, located 36 km (22 mi) west of Arad. The monastery was constructed in 1539 and is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, celebrated on August 28 according to the New Style.
References
↑ G.G. Florescu, "Agențiile diplomatice de la București și Belgrad (1863–1866)", în Romanoslavica XI/1965, pp. 126–131.
↑ William Rosen, Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe, Viking Adult, 2007.
↑ Mirdita, Zef (2004). "Hrvatski institut za povijest". Zbornik Odsjeka za povijesne znanosti Zavoda za povijesne i društvene znanosti Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti. 23: 293–298.
↑ (in Serbian) Kosta Jovanovic, Negotinska Krajina i Kljuc, Belgrade, 1940
Isailović, Neven G.; Krstić, Aleksandar R. (2015). "Serbian Language and Cyrillic Script as a Means of Diplomatic Literacy in South Eastern Europe in 15th and 16th Centuries". Literacy Experiences concerning Medieval and Early Modern Transylvania. Cluj-Napoca: George Bariţiu Institute of History. pp.185–195.
Udrea, Andreea (2024). "A Security Conundrum: Kin-State Engagement, Identity Recognition, and the 2012 Dispute between Romania and Serbia". Journal of Global Security Studies 10 (1).
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