British – Serbian relations are foreign relations between the United Kingdom and Serbia. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1837.[1] The UK has an embassy and consulate in Belgrade[2] and Serbia has an embassy in London.[3] The Serbian ambassador to the United Kingdom is Dr Dejan Popovic[4] and the British ambassador to Serbia is Sian MacLeod.[2]
Trade between the two countries in 2004 amounted to US$245.8 million. In the first ten months of 2005 exports of Serbia and Montenegro to Great Britain accounted for US$68.2 million (110.6 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2004) and the imports from the UK were US$104.2 million (85 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2004).
The 2001 UK Census recorded 31,244 people born in the former state of Serbia and Montenegro, which are now the independent states of Serbia and Montenegro, while Kosovo's independence from Serbia is still disputed.[5]
During Gascoyne-Cecil's first tenure as Prime Minister from 1885-1886, his cabinet held negative views of Kingdom of Serbia and instead supported the Kingdom of Bulgaria. A Times correspondent claimed that Serbia was the biggest threat to peace in the Balkans. This view was refuted by archeologist Arthur Evans, who stated that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija were facing terror from the hand of local Albanian population, with murders being a daily occurrence.[6]
The Kingdom of Serbia and the UK were allies in World War I. British influence in Serbia became more relevant only after WWI. Around 350 Serb pupils and students received an education in the United Kingdom during this period and afterwards, under the supervision of university professor Pavle Popović, who was a visiting professor at King's College. The Serbian Relief Fund and Serbian Minister's Fund were formed for the purpose of providing financial and other aid to Serb students in UK, and a hostel for Serb students was opened. In the 1920s, Serbs went to Britain to study banking, finances and economics, while in the 1930s mining engineering was the main field of study.
In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the UK was perceived as a friendly country and an ally. Serb elites, based mostly in Belgrade, like Slobodan Jovanovic and Bogdan Bogdanovic considered that Serbs and the British shared a joint love of liberty and fierce patriotism, and they advocated looking upon United Kingdom in order to further develop democracy in the country.
As early as the 1920s, London made its way to Serbia, mostly through banks. In 1920, the British Trade Corporation was founded in Belgrade. Although this bank only operated until 1928, its work led to serious improvements in the local industry, primarily mining. In the same period, relations between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Church of England were established.[7] Several big donations of books by British to Serbian libraries took place in the 1920s. British citizens were the main foreign sponsors of scientific research in the interwar period. Archaeological excavations in Vinča were funded by sir Charles Hyde.
Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović played an important role in furthering the relations between the two countries. He was held in high regard in London, and Velimirović was the first Orthodox clergyman to preach at St. Paul’s Cathedral. He established firm relations between the Serbian Orthodox Church with the Church of England.[8]
An English Language and Literature Department was formed in Belgrade in 1929.[9] Cultural and other exchanges became popular in the interwar period. A number of societies of Yugoslav-British friendship were functioning in Belgrade in 1930s, with full support from the Yugoslav government. Several important local cultural figures were part of the friendship society, such as Isidora Sekulić, Raša Plaović, and Viktor Novak. As of 1935, the English language was taught in schools in Serbia, but to a smaller degree compared to French and German, due to lack of teachers and political reasons. A total of 75 students with Yugoslav citizenship were enrolled at British faculties in the Interwar period, of which six got their PhD in the country, mostly in the subject of English literature.
Following the Yugoslav coup d'état, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia entered World War II on the Allied side.
From 1 September 2013 until 30 December 2020, trade between Serbia and the UK was governed by the Serbia–European Union Stabilisation and Association Process, while the United Kingdom was a member.[10] Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the UK and Serbia signed a continuity trade agreement on 16 April 2021, based on the EU free trade agreement; the agreement entered into force on 20 May 2021.[11] [12] Trade value between Serbia and the United Kingdom was worth £904 million in 2022.[13]