Survey: 29 percent of Serbian citizens believe that the US will support Serbian interests regarding Kosovo

According to the latest survey conducted by the Serbian-American Friendship Congress in cooperation with the Factor Plus agency, 29 percent of Serbian citizens believe that the US will support Serbian interests in the dialogue with Pristina, while more than half believe that in the next five to ten years, relations between Belgrade and Washington will continue to improve or be at their highest level.

When asked about their expectations of the US regarding Serbian interests, 17.9 percent of citizens said they expect the US to support a compromise solution in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, 29 percent believe that Washington will support Serbian interests, and only 3.2 percent expect the US to support Albanian interests in the dialogue.

Vladimir Marinkovic, the founder of the Serbian-American Friendship Congress, emphasizes that good relations between Belgrade and Washington are crucial and that the long tradition of diplomatic relations between Serbia and the US is unmatched in the region.

"We need an alliance with the US," Marinkovic said.

While 29.8 percent of citizens expect relations between Belgrade and Washington to continue to improve in the future, and 25 percent believe that relations will be the same as during the alliance during World War I and II, 21 percent believe that relations will deteriorate.

Vladimir Pejic, the director of the Factor Plus agency, says that the survey shows that a large number of citizens believe that there can be no successful dialogue with Pristina without the influence of the US.

"We saw that 29 percent of citizens hope that America can use its authority to help Serbia achieve a relatively good agreement and to maintain not only its dignity but also the positions that are acceptable to citizens when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija. Of course, not everyone thinks that way, but it seems that some things are changing, and the US has put pressure on the Pristina government on several occasions and supported Serbia in some situations," Pejic said.

Regarding their attitude towards the US, 12.4 percent of respondents said they have a positive attitude (in the previous survey, 9.5 percent had a positive opinion), somewhat positive 15.3 percent, neither positive nor negative 27.5 percent, somewhat negative 23 percent, and negative 9.7 percent.

When asked whether they believe that the US is responsible for the bombing of Serbia in 1999, 60.9 percent of respondents answered "yes," 22.3% answered "no," and 16.9% of citizens did not want to express an opinion.

As many as 43% of citizens, when asked in which direction relations between Serbia and the US should develop, answered "increasing the volume of economic exchange," 16.5% cited "strategic partnership between the two countries, taking into account the geopolitical interests of both sides," 12.1% of respondents mentioned military cooperation, while 30% called for an increase in the volume of scientific and technological exchange and cooperation.