 | |
 Serbia |  Spain |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Serbia in Madrid | Embassy of Spain in Belgrade |
Serbia andSpain maintain diplomatic relations established in 1916.[1] From 1918 to 2006, Spainmaintained relations with theKingdom of Yugoslavia, theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (laterSerbia and Montenegro), of which Serbia is consideredshared (SFRY) or sole (FRY) legalsuccessor.[2]
AfterExpulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 by theCatholic Monarchs ruling Castile and Aragon manySephardi Jews settled inBalkan provinces of what was thenOttoman Empire.[3] With the rise ofnationalism amongOrthodox Christians of Ottoman Empire they have organised rebellions against Muslim ruling elite starting with the 1804Serbian Revolution against Ottoman rule. Revolution was running in parallel with theNapoleonic Wars. Process ofdecline of the Ottoman Empire will continue until the end ofFirst Balkan War in 1913 with the gradual reconquest of the Balkan peninsula by newly independent states and southward retreat of Ottoman Empire. In 1882 philosopher and senatorÁngel Pulido is writing how one Sephardic merchant at the market in Belgrade told him"I am not Spanish from there [Spain], but Spanish from the East."[3] In the same yearMilan I was awarded with theOrder of Charles III on the occasion of his proclamation as the King of Serbia.[3] In 1895Đorđe Popović-Daničar have published the first translation ofDon Quixote into Serbian which according to him was"the best novel in the world".[3] In his translation undertaking he was helped by Sephardi Jew Hajim Davičo.[3] In 1903Vicente Blasco Ibáñez arrived at Belgrade on theOrient Express service where he stated that city is"relatively cosmopolitan, with trams, cafes, and theaters, but full of nervous military men, women wanting to imitate French fashion and drunk orthodox priests".[3] Since 1910 Spain had one diplomatic representative in theKingdom of Serbia, Mr Francisco Serrat i Bonastre, who stayed at that function throughout the Balkan Wars all until the 1914 and the beginning of World War I which began after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,July Crisis andAustria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.[3]
Serbian Campaign of World War I resulted in Serbia losing a third of its entire population.[3] After theSerbian Army's retreat through Albania, which resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, the country's government together with some of its population settled at the Greek island ofCorfu.[3] Spain was a neutral power in the war but one which was actively involved in mediation among the conflicting parties.[3] At one point Spain was involved in the provision and protection of 1,500 Serbian children and the release of 100 prisoners of war in Banja Luka in 1917.[3] The Serbian Government on Corfu and Spain established diplomatic relations in 1916 and in the same year the first Serbian ambassador arrived at Madrid.[3]
During the interwar years, famous Serbian poetJovan Dučić (1919-1921) andIvo Andrić (1928-1929, 1961 recipient of theNobel Prize in Literature) were serving as ambassadors of the newly foundedKingdom of Yugoslavia to Spain.[3] At the same timeKalmi Baruh was in Spain on scholarship received from the Spanish Government studying for the post-doctoral historical studies in the Spanish center of Historical Studies in Madrid.
The relations between the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kingdom of Spain were relatively cordial since the end of Francoist period in Spain.[4] They were mostly kept at the diplomatic level as Spain was focusing on its integrations into European Community and NATO.[4] Some among the Spanish politicians were considering the option to follow the YugoslavNon-Aligned Movement way likeMalta andCyprus did at the time.[4] Future Spanish foreign ministerMiguel Ángel Moratinos served in Belgrade as a young diplomat in the 1980s.[4] Spanish presence in Yugoslavia would later be transferred to Serbia and would not be completely cut of even during the years ofsanctions against Serbia and Montenegro.[4]
In 1991, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of SpainFrancisco Fernández Ordóñez proposed to the Foreign Affairs Council of theEuropean Community to initiate a quick recognition and enlargement procedure with Yugoslavia as the only way to prevent the breakup of the country.[5] Spain preferred to be perceived as the neutral player in the region during the conflict but its foreign policy was generally sympathetic towards Serbia which was perceived as the core state of former multinational and diverse Yugoslav state.[5] It was against Spanish political instincts to recognizeindependence of Croatia andSlovenia at the time ofbreakup of Yugoslavia, yet as a new member state of the European Community country was reluctant to break the European unity.[4] At the time, newlyunited Germany was the strongest advocate of independence for Croatia and Slovenia with all 12 members of the European Community, as well asAustria andSwitzerland following German push for recognition.[6]
Under the leadership ofJosé María Aznar, the Spanish Government had decided that theSpanish Armed Forces would be a part of the coalition enacting the1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Out of 16 NATO member states at the time, 13 took part in the intervention. The member states that did not partake in the bombings were Iceland, which maintained no standing army; Luxembourg with a very small standing army; and Greece as the only major member state which expressed strong opposition to the intervention. 38% of Spanish citizens supported the participation of Spain and 42% of them opposed it.[3] At the same time all of the Spanishpolitical parties in parliament, with the exception of the radical left which held 23 out of 350 seats, voted in favor of Spanish participation in NATO intervention.[5]Javier Solana was the NATO Secretary-General at the time of intervention.[5] Spanish F-18s were among the first planes to strike targets in Serbia; Aznar's Government supported subsequent interventions inAfghanistan andIraq as well.
In 2009Minister of Foreign Affairs of SpainMiguel Angel Moratinos urged theGovernment of Netherlands to unblock Serbia'sStabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union which at the time was already signed but its implementation had been blocked by theNetherlands.[7] After theCouncil's recommendation of February 2012, Serbia receivedfull candidate status on March that year. In 2013 the European Council endorsed the Council of Ministers conclusions and recommendations to openaccession negotiations with Serbia. Spain is strongly supporting Serbia's accession negotiations.[8][9] On the meeting ofEuropean External Action Service in 2018 Spanish representatives together with some of those fromVisegrád Group required to get actively involved in the EU facilitatedBelgrade–Pristina negotiations.[10]
Serbian presidentAleksandar Vučić visited Spain in 2022, with scheduled meetings with kingFelipe VI and prime ministerPedro Sánchez, seeking to seal the purchase of two military aircraftC-295.[11] In July of 2022, in the wake of a visit to the Western Balkans (including Serbia) of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and a meeting with Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, the former stressed the Spanish support to the advance inSerbia's EU membership negotiations, also declaring that "international law and the territorial integrity of nations must be respected" in relation to Kosovo.[12]
Spain is one of five member states of the European Union (other beingGreece,Cyprus,Romania andSlovakia) that does not recognizeunilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and is actively opposing its membership in international organisations such asUNESCO and Interpol.[13][14] In addition, Spain is supporting Serbia's insistence on establishment ofCommunity of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo as provided by the2013 Brussels Agreement signed under the auspices of the European Union.[15]
Serbia strongly supported Spanish territorial integrity during the2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, with Serbian Foreign Minister stating that Spain is one of the best international friends of Serbia.[16]
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Trade between two countries amounted to$1.1 billion in 2023; Spain's merchandise exports were standing at roughly $723 million; Serbia's exports to Spain were about $372 million.[17]
Spanish companies present in Serbia includeViscofan (with packaging plant inJagodina), Refisa (auto-parts plant inKragujevac), and Teknia (auto-parts plant in Kragujevac).Inditex through its stores (Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius) is the biggest fashion retailer in Serbia.
Instituto Cervantes, cultural centre devoted to the Spanish andHispanic American culture and Spanish language has been operating in Belgrade since 2004.
In his novel "Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea",Italian novelistClaudio Magris is describing 1734 settlement ofSpaniards in the town ofBečkerek in modern-day Serbian province ofVojvodina where they have established a so-called NewBarcelona.[18] Northern Serbian city ofZrenjanin is mentioned in the novel "Waiting for Robert Capa" (under its old name of Petrovgrad) of Spanish authorSusana Fortes.[19] Jewish protagonist's brothers who are running from persecution, are settling in Petrovgrad, just on the border with Romanian, because as protagonist claim, there was never tradition ofantisemitism in Zrenjanin.[19]
