BELGRADE, January 11. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin remains the most popular foreign politician in Serbia, with 80% Serbians having sympathetic views towards the Russian leader, Vecernje Novosti newspaper said on Wednesday citing a Gallup opinion poll.
According to the newspaper, Putin is followed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping (61% of the polled). Third is German Chancellor Angela Merkel (38%). About a third of respondents spoke positively about US and French Presidents, Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron, fourth and fifth respectively.
The Serbs don’t like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who enjoys support of mere 17% of respondents.
Putin has been enjoying high popularity in Serbia over the past 15 years. After his convincing victory at the presidential elections back in 2012, Serbia’s ex-President Tomislav Nikolic said the only person he could have lost to was Vladimir Putin.