BELGRADE, April 9. /TASS/. The peoples of European countries do not share their governments' anti-Russian sentiments - in this situation, Belgrade might serve as a neutral cultural platform for discussion between people interested in making contacts, Director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture (Russia House) in Belgrade Evgeny Baranov told TASS in honor of the center's 90th anniversary.
"When we talk about trends in Europe, these are the trends of the authorities <...> First and foremost, this concerns Western Europe. Regardless of how dictatorial and Russophobic the European elite is, a sizable portion of the public in European countries has neither fear nor hatred for Russia. They are interested in the growth of cultural platforms and cultural trends. I sincerely hope that Belgrade, which is geographically located in the center of Europe, will prove to be a neutral platform for communication and communication with people who want to maintain contacts," he said.
According to him, the sentiment about cultural connection with Russia is extremely strong in Serbia. However, responsibilities to European Union partners, as well as massive pressure from the West, are an impediment to Belgrade's contacts in this area.
Working with Russian citizens in Serbia has become an unexpected new task, since their number in the country has risen to 200,000 in a year, Baranov added. "Earlier, around 3,500 Russians lived in Serbia. Now, there are more than 100,000 Russians in Belgrade alone, and more than 200,000 in total, according to some estimates. This is a completely new challenge for us, and we're trying to work with it," he explained.