How War Transforms Migration: The Case of Recent Russian Migration in Belgrade

Abstract

Aghayev, E. (2017). Relations Between Russia and Serbia. European Researcher, Series A, 8(1), 4–8. doi:10.13187/er.2017.1.4

Albert, S. (1977). Temporal comparison theory. Psychological review, 84(6), 485. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.6.485

Anzaldúa, G. E. (2012). Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza. Aunt Lute Books.

Arendt, H. (1989). Lectures on Kant's political philosophy. University of Chicago Press.

Bialasiewicz, L. (2009). The new political geographies of the European ‘neighbourhood’. Political Geography, 28(2), 79–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2008.12.002

Bobić, M., & Šantić, D. (2020). Forced migrations and externalization of European Union border control: Serbia on the Balkan migration route. International Migration, 58(3), 220-234. doi: 10.1111/imig.12622

Brambilla, C. (2015). Exploring the critical potential of the borderscapes concept. Geopolitics, 20(1), 14–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2014.884561

Brettell, C. B. (2000). Theorizing migration in anthropology. Migration theory, 2(2000), 97–137.

Browning, C. S. (2018). Geostrategies, geopolitics and ontological security in the Eastern neighbourhood: The European Union and the ‘new Cold War’. Political Geography, 62, 106–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2017.10.009

Brunet-Jailly, E. (2011). Special Section: Borders, Borderlands and Theory: An Introduction. Geopolitics, 16(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2010.493765

Castles, S. (2010). Understanding Global Migration: A Social Transformation Perspective. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(10), 1565–1586. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.489381

Čavoški, J. (2014). Between great powers and third world neutralists: Yugoslavia and the Belgrade conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, 1961. In The Non-Aligned Movement and the Cold War (pp. 184-206). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315737216

Cohen, A. J. (2014). 'Our Russian passport': First World War monuments, transnational commemoration, and the Russian emigration in Europe, 1918–39. Journal of Contemporary History, 49(4), 627–651. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022009414541467

Čoko, I. (2023). Nepoznata Dimenzija: Rusi u Beogradu. [The Unknown Dimension: Russians in Belgrade] Lupiga. 27 June 2023. https://lupiga.com/vijesti/nepoznata-dimenzija-rusi-u-beogradu

Collier, P. (2013). Exodus: How migration is changing our world. Oxford University Press.

Cvijić, S., & Nikolić, K. (2025). Non-malign influence: What does the Russian community in Serbia think and do? Belgrade Centre for Security Policy https://doi.org/10.55042/JYHY7785

Davies, S., Pettersson, T., & Öberg, M. (2023). Organized violence 1989–2022, and the return of conflict between states. Journal of Peace Research, 60(4), 691–708. https://doi.org/10.1177/00223433231185169

Davies, S., Pettersson, T., Sollenberg, M., & Öberg, M. (2025). Organized violence 1989–2024, and the challenges of identifying civilian victims. Journal of Peace Research, 00223433251345636. doi: 10.1177/00223433251345636

Del Sarto, R. (2021). Borderlands. Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East. Oxford University Press.

Dell’Agnese, E., & Amilhat Szary, A. L. (2015). Borderscapes: From border landscapes to border aesthetics. Geopolitics, 20(1), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2015.1014284

Djordjević, A. (2025). Post-Revolutionary Russian Émigrés as Mediators of European Cultural Transfer in the Kingdom of SCS/ Yugoslavia. In A. Djurić-Milovanović & I. Pantelić (Eds.), Echoes of Europe: Cultural Transfer Europe-Serbia in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (pp. 101 –125). http://doi.fil.bg.ac.rs/pdf/eb_book/2025/ies_ctes_echoes/ies_ctes_echoes-2025-ch5.pdf

Gavrić, S. (2024). Deset najzastupljenijih biznisa Rusa u Srbiji. [The Ten Most Common Businesses Owned by Russians in Serbia]. Bloomberg Adria, 26 June. https://rs.bloombergadria.com/biznis/kompanije/60551/rusi-u-srbiji-uz-it-biznis-drze-i-restorane-i-salone/news

Georgijevski, J. (2022). Srbija, Rusija i medicina: Lečenje po kućama - Rusi na sivom tržištu medicinskih usluga u Srbiji. [Serbia, Russia, and Medicine: Russians Turn to Home Treatments in Serbia’s Medical Gray Market]. BBC news na srpskom, 21 December. https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-63873806

Georgijevski, J. (2025). Rusi u Srbiji: Kako žive danas, tri godine od početka rata u Ukrajini. [Russians in Serbia: Life three years after the start of the war in Ukraine]. BBC news na srpskom, 3 March. https://www.bbc.com/serbian/articles/cy4llj8zp2po/lat

Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Univ of California Press.

Harbom, Lotta, & Peter Wallensteen (2007). Armed Conflict, 1989—2006. Journal of Peace Research 44, 5: 623–634. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343307080859

Haug, S. (2008). Migration networks and migration decision-making. Journal of ethnic and migration studies, 34(4), 585-605. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830801961605

Hirt, S. (2009). Belgrade, Serbia. Cities, 26(5), 293–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2009.08.003

Hyndman, J. (2012). The Geopolitics of Migration and Mobility. Geopolitics, 17(2), 243–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2011.569321

Ignjatović, A. (2011). Difference as likeness: The Russian emigre architects in interwar Serbia and the construction of Serbian national identity. Tokovi istorije, (1), 63-75.

Janković, B., Marković, S., & Ivanov, A. (2024). Control of Irregular Migration and Suppression of People Smuggling on the Western Balkan Route. Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 10(2), 119–136. https://doi.org/10.47305/JLIA24102119j.

Jovanović, S. M. (2023). The relationship between Serbia and Russia in the post-Yugoslav era: Political, economic, and security dimensions. Studia Środkowoeuropejskie i Bałkanistyczne, (32), 227-246. https://doi.org/10.48251/ssb.32.2.4

Jovičić, E., & Marjanović, D. (2024). The contemporary development of Serbia-China and Serbia-Russia relations: Is this the opportune moment for the expansion of economic cooperation? The Review of International Affairs, 75(1190), 109–137. https://doi.org/10.18485/iipe_ria.2024.75.1190.5

Kant, I. (1987). Critique of judgment (W. S. Pluhar & M. J. Gregor, Trans.). Hackett Publishing. (Original work published 1790).

Khan, A. (2023). Russian Migration Surge in Serbia – Balancing Economic Opportunities and EU Concerns. September 2023.European Policy Center https://cep.org.rs/wp-

content/uploads/2023/09/Russian-Migration-Surge-in-Serbia.pdf

Kosović, N. (2016). What makes Russia so popular in Serbia? Origins of Russian soft power (Doctoral dissertation, Central European University). https://doi.org/10.5555/ceu.2016.74

Kovačević, H. (2024). Sve je više ruskih muzičara pred beogradskom publikom: Kakvo je interesovanje za koncerte. [More and more Russian musicians are performing for Belgrade audiences: What is the level of interest in their concerts?]. Forbes, 31 March. https://forbes.n1info.rs/lifestyle/sve-je-vise-ruskih-muzicara-pred-beogradskom-publikom-kakvo-je-interesovanje-za-koncerte/

Koyama, Y. (2022). Emigration from Serbia and depopulation. Ekonomske ideje i praksa, (47). https://doi.org/10.5937/econideas47

Lazarević, J. (2024). Rusi u Srbiji uložili 180 miliona evra u kupovinu stanova. [Russians invest €180 million in housing purchases in Serbia]. Bloomberg Adria, 21 March. https://rs.bloombergadria.com/bloomberg-adria-tv/bloomberg-adria-tv/54986/rusi-u-srbiji-potrosili-180-miliona-evra-na-kupovinu-stanova/news

Lerch, M., Beckendorff, D., & Du, W. (2025). The Diffusion of International Migration in Cities and Rural Areas of Developing Countries. International Migration Review, 59(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183251384588

Lin, N. (1999). Building a network theory of social capital. Connections, 22(1), 28–51 https://faculty.washington.edu/matsueda/courses/590/Readings/Lin%20Network%20Theory%201999.pdf

Lutz, W., & Gailey, N. (2020). Depopulation as a policy challenge in the context of global demographic trends (Human Development Series). UNDP Serbia/UNFPA. https://eeca.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/depopulation20as20a20policy20challenge.pdf

Lyon, J. (1996). Yugoslavia's hyperinflation, 1993-1994: A social history. East European Politics and Societies, 10(02), 293–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325496010002005

Manojlović, M. (2023) Biti Rus u Srbiji. [Being Russian in Serbia]. Radio Slobodna Evropa, 13 June. https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/srbija-rusi-manjinska-zajednica/32457134.html

Massey, D. S. (1999). International migration at the dawn of the twenty‐first century: The role of the state. Population and development review, 25(2), 303–322. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.1999.00303.x

Meister, S. (2018). Understanding Russian communication strategy: Case studies of Serbia and Estonia (p. 60). DEU. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-59979-0

Mezzadra, S., & Neilson, B. (2013). Border as Method. Duke University Press.

Minca, C., & Collins, J. (2021). The Game: Or, 'the making of migration'along the Balkan Route. Political Geography, 91, 102490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102490

Novakov, S. (2024). Ovde smo mogli slobodno da živimo: Ruskoj porodici Tereh preti proterivanje iz Srbije. [We Could Have Lived Here Freely: Russian Tereh Family at Risk of Deportation from Serbia]. NIN. Društvo. 02 April 2024. https://www.nin.rs/drustvo/vesti/47362/ruskoj-porodici-tereh-preti-proterivanje-iz-srbije

Novaković, I., Savković, M., & Stanojević, N. (2025). An analysis of Serbia’s alignment with the European Union’s foreign policy declarations and measures: Semi-annual review for 2025. CFSP and Serbia’s Accession to the European Union. ISAC. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. July 2025. https://www.isac-fund.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ISAC-Analysis-of-Serbias-alignment-Semi-Annual-2025.pdf

Patalakh, A. (2018). Emotions and identity as foreign policy determinants: Serbian approach to relations with Russia. Chinese Political Science Review, 3(4), 495-528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41111-018-0082-z

Pieterse, J. N. (2003). Social capital and migration: Beyond ethnic economies. Ethnicities, 3(1), 29–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796803003001785

Portes, A. (2010). Migration and Social Change: Some Conceptual Reflections. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(10), 1537–1563. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.489370

Proroković, D. (2020). Russian vector in Serbian politics: impacts and outcomes on regional relations. Institute of International Politics аnd Economics. doi: 10.18485/iipe_balkans_rssc.2020.ch13

Prošen, M. (2016). Russian architects and sculptors participated in making the Art Deco architecture in Serbia. Актуальные проблемы теории и истории искусства, (6), 624-634. https://doi.org/10.18688/aa166-8-67

Radivojević, B., & Penev, G. (2014). Demographic losses of Serbia in the First World War and their long-term consequences. Economic Annals, 59(203), 29–54. https://doi.org/10.2298/EKA1403029R

Radojčić, S., Bakrač, S., & Đorđević, D. (2022). Russian emigrants served at the Military Geographic Institute in Belgrade from 1920 to 1957. Glasnik Srpskog geografskog društva, 102(1), 55-86. https://doi.org/10.2298/GSGD2201055R

Radonjić, O., & Bobić, M. (2021). Brain drain losses–a case study of Serbia. International Migration, 59(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12710

Raeymaekers, T. (2019). The laws of impermanence: Displacement, sovereignty, subjectivity. In K. Mitchell, R. Jones, & J. L. Fluri (Eds.), Handbook on Critical Geographies of Migration (pp. 58–68). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Rothermund, D. (2014). The era of non-alignment. In Miskovic, N., Fischer-Tiné, H., & Boskovska, N. (Eds.) The Non-Aligned Movement and the Cold War (pp. 19–34). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315814452

Rujević, N. (2025). Ruska propaganda na Balkanu – analiza nemačkog novinara. [Russian propaganda in the Balkans – an analysis by a German journalist]. Deutsche Welle. Mediji, 10 January. https://www.dw.com/sr/ruska-propaganda-na-balkanu-analiza-nema%C4%8Dkog-novinara/a-71262196

Schulte, V., & Hinz, A. (2024). Emigration and start up setting: New Russian and Ukrainian intelligentsia in a historical perspective. In A. H. Verkuil (Ed.), Start up cultures in times of global crises: Sustainable and innovative approaches (pp. 129–143). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53942-8_8

Sergeeva, I., & Kamalov, E. (2024). A year and a half in exile: progress and obstacles in the integration of Russian migrants. European University Institute. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/ckf4v

Spasić, I., & Backović, V. (2020). Urban identity of Belgrade: Perfect chaos, imperfect balance. Sociologija, 62(4), 569-589. https://doi.org/10.2298/SOC2004569S

Stefanović, I. (2022). Uslovi za boravak i rad ruskih i ukrajinskih državljana u Republici Srbiji. [Conditions for Residence and Work of Russian and Ukrainian Citizens in the Republic of Serbia]. TSG Newsletter 127. 01 March 2022. https://tsg.rs/newsletter/uslovi-za-boravak-i-rad-ruskih-i-ukrajinskih-drzavljana-u-republici-srbiji/

The Government of the Republic of Serbia. In the service of citizens. The number of migrants. www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/en/241177/number-of-migrants-in-serbia-down-by-8210.php?

Tomović, T. (2022). "Sve češće čujem ruski na ulici": Ispovesti tri ruske porodice - pokrenuli su biznise u Srbiji i spremni su da ostanu. [Hearing Russian on the streets more and more often: Confessions of three Russian families — they have started businesses in Serbia and are ready to stay]. Euronews. 2 November. https://www.euronews.rs/srbija/drustvo/66763/sve-cesce-cujem-ruski-na-ulici-ispovesti-tri-ruske-porodice-pokrenuli-su-biznise-u-srbiji-i-spremni-su-da-ostanu/vest

Tuvić, S. (2023). Srpski kao strani jezik: Zbog ruske i ukrajinske dece u škole u Srbiji bi uskoro mogao da se uvede novi izborni predmet. [Serbian as a foreign language: Due to Russian and Ukrainian children, a new elective subject could soon be introduced in schools in Serbia]. Euronews Serbia, 12 February. https://www.euronews.rs/srbija/drustvo/77257/srpski-kao-strani-jezik-zbog-ruske-i-ukrajinske-dece-u-skole-u-srbiji-bi-uskoro-mogao-da-se-uvede-novi-izborni-predmet/vest

Van Hear, N. (2010). Theories of Migration and Social Change. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(10), 1531–1536. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.489359

Vertovec, S. (2011). The cultural politics of nation and migration. Annual Review of Anthropology, 40, 241–256. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145837

Vesić, I. (2015). The role of Russian emigrants in the rise of popular culture and music in Belgrade between the two world wars. In I. Medić & K. Tomašević (Eds.), Beyond the East-West divide: Balkan music and its poles of attraction (pp. 101-115). Routledge.

Vist, B. (2023). Russia's second great emigration. Brown Political Review. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/russia-s-second-great-emigration/docview/3094458667/se-2

Vlaović, G. (2024). Rusi u Srbiji: Kako utiču na privredu i tržište stanova. [Russians in Serbia: How they affect the economy and the housing market]. NIN. Ekonomija. 12 October 2024. https://www.nin.rs/ekonomija/vesti/58935/rusi-u-srbiji-kako-uticu-na- privredu-i-trziste-stanova

Vujačić, V. (1996). Historical legacies, nationalist mobilization, and political outcomes in Russia and Serbia: A Weberian view. Theory and Society, 25, 763-801. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00169891

Vukmirović, V., Kostić-Stanković, M., Pavlović, D., Ateljević, J., Bjelica, D., Radonić, M., & Sekulić, D. (2021). Foreign direct investments' impact on economic growth in Serbia. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 23(1), 122-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2020.1820204

Vuković, D. (2005). Migrations of the labor force from Serbia. SEER-South-East Europe Review for Labour and Social Affairs, (04), 139–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613190500227173

YTarcic, D. (2020). Exploring Current Economic Relations between Serbia and Russia. Pooda Journal of Business Marketing, Finance, and Accounting Studies, 10(2). https://pooda.org/index.php/pooda/article/view/282

Zielonka, J. (2006). Europe as an empire. The nature of the enlarged European Union. Oxford University Press.

Zrnić, S. (2024). Javno i privatno zdravstvo: Sistemi nikako da se povežu, a pacijenti ispaštaju. [Public and private healthcare: the systems still fail to connect, and patients suffer]. Vreme. 12 August. https://vreme.com/drustvo/javno-i-privatno-zdravstvo-sistemi-nikako-da-se-povezu-a-pacijenti-ispastaju/