Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of ...

( sv, Serber) began migrating to Sweden in large numbers in the 1960s, as part of the migrant work-agreement signed with the Yugoslav government to help Sweden overcome its severe labour

shortage In economics, a shortage or excess demand is a situation in which the demand for a product or service exceeds its supply in a market. It is the opposite of an excess supply ( surplus). Definitions In a perfect market (one that matches a s ...

. The

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

saw another influx of Serbs.

History

Serbs constituted a low percentage of the Swedish population prior to the 1960s. Some came after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, mostly seeking

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entit ...

. The greatest proportion of Serbs came together with

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

and

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

under the visa agreements in times of severe labour shortages or when particular skills were deficient within Sweden, as

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

(called ''arbetskraftsinvandring'', see ''

gastarbeiter (; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...

''). During the 1960s and 1970s, agreements were signed with the government of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

to help Sweden overcome its severe labour shortage. Bosnian and

Croatian Serbs The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Cr ...

migrated in another wave during and after the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

. A third wave, of

Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Serbs are one of the ethnic groups of Kosovo. There are around 100,000 Kosovo Serbs as of 2014 and about half of them live in North Kosovo. Other Serb communities live in southern Kosovo. After Albanians, they form the largest ethnic com ...

, came during the

Kosovo war The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...

in 1999.

Demographics

The Swedish census data includes country of birth, but does not include ethnicity, descendants or naturalized people, thus, the total number of ethnic Serbs in Sweden is hard to define. Various estimations include: 80,000; 110,000; 120,000; and 140,000. Aco Dragićević, writing for the Swedish-Serbian newspaper ''Dijaspora'', wrote in 2002 that some 200,000 Yugoslavs, regardless of ethnic origin, migrated to Sweden during the Second Yugoslavia (1945-1992); of these, roughly 40% (ca. 80,000) he believed to be Serbs.

Culture

Language

The Serbs in Sweden are bilingual. The Serbian language is a rich contributor to the so-called

Rinkeby Swedish Rinkeby Swedish () is any of a number of variety (linguistics), varieties of Swedish language, Swedish spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of immigrant residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in ...

, a

sociolect In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language ( non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group. Sociolects involve both passive acqui ...

(

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

) of the Swedish language.

Religion

In 1972 the first Serbian Orthodox parish (of ''St. Nicholas'') was formed in

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

, prior to the forming the Serbs were headed by Swedish Orthodox priest Christofer Klasson, previously priest in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

. Later, the same year a parish was formed in Malmö (of ''Saints Cyrils and Methodius'') and in 1973 one in Stockholm (of ''

Saint Sava Saint Sava ( sr, Свети Сава, Sveti Sava, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; gr, Άγιος Σάββας; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalou ...

''). Later, parishes have been formed in Göteborg (of '' Stefan Decanski''), Jönköping (of ''

Nativity of Mary The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's bi ...

''), Helsingborg (of ''St Basil the Great'') and one more in Stockholm. The parishes have their own head-priest. In Malmö, 1982, the Church of Saint Cyril and Methodius was opened, the first Serbian church in Sweden. The parish of Saint Sava opened its church in Enskede, in 1983, the parish in Göteborg also has a church. The parish in Malmö suffered several attacks in 1990, the premises were firebombed but the church was not damaged, the perpetrators were racist youths who were later convicted of arson. The SOC has parishes and churches in the cities of: * Stockholm (2) **Church of Saint Sava *

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna h ...

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

Holy Stefan Decanski
church *

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipa ...

Kristianstad Kristianstad (, ; older spelling from Danish ''Christianstad'') is a city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 40,145 inhabitants in 2016. During the last 15 years, it has gone from a garrison town to a devel ...

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

Holy Basil the Great
church *

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

**Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius *Laholm **Smedjeryd monastery

Music

Stockholm-based Östblocket and Macedonian-Swedish Andra Generationen are both Balkan Brass Bands, playing a

musical style Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the na ...

from southern

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Sport

Swedish Serbs have been very successful in sports, among most notable are The Stockholm Eagles is a Serbian-Swedish basketball team that has become very successful since its establishment in 2007. They won the Swedish second league (Basketettan) back to back 2011 and 2012 and became the only team in Sweden to win 34 victories in a row.

Notable people

;Sportspeople * Dalibor Doder, handball player *

Bojan Djordjic Bojan Djordjic ( or Bojan Đorđić; born 6 February 1982) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting off his career with IF Brommapojkarna in the late 1990s, he is best remembered for his time with Manche ...

, footballer (

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

09'), Serbian-born * Alexander Kačaniklić, football player, paternal descent * Alexander Milošević, football player, Serbian father *

Dusan Djuric Dusan Predrag Djuric ( sr, Душан Предраг Ђурић, Dušan Predrag Ðurić; born 16 September 1984) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Starting off his career with Halmstads BK in Sweden, he went on to ...

, footballer (

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

09') *

Zoran Lukić Zoran Lukić ( sr-cyr, Зоран Лукић; born 27 November 1956) is a Swedish football manager and a former player. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the time part of Yugoslavia, Lukić had a long career in FK Sarajevo. He left for Sweden pr ...

, football manager (

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is name ...

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

02' and 03'), Bosnian-born * Daniel Majstorović, footballer (

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, a ...

08') * Marko Mitrović, footballer * Nebojša Novaković, former footballer-assistant manager (

, champion 98'), Bosnian-born * Nikola Pasic, ice hockey player, Serbian parents *

Peter Popovic Peter "Poppe" Popovic ( sr, Popović; born 10 February 1968) is a Swedish former ice hockey defenceman of Serbian ancestry, and currently an assistant coach of the Sweden men's national team. Popovic was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 5t ...

, ice hockey player (NHL;

Canadiens French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

, Rangers,

Penguins Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

and Bruins), Serbian parents *

Rade Prica Rade Stanislav Prica (born 30 June 1980) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the only player who has won league championships in the three Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Denmark and Norway. He also play ...

, footballer (Danish Superliga Top scorer: 06–07', Norwegian Premier League Top scorer: 09'), Serb father * Danijela Rundqvist, ice hockey player (Olympic Silver 2006, Bronze 2002), Kosovo Serb mother * Stefan Selaković, footballer (

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

07') * Dragan Umicevic, ice hockey player (NHL;

Oilers Oiler may refer to: Ships * Replenishment oiler * Tanker (ship) Sports * Cape Breton Oilers, a former American Hockey League team * City Oilers, Ugandan basketball team * Edmonton Oilers, a National Hockey League team based in Edmonton, Alberta, ...

), Bosnian-born *

Ljubomir Vranjes Ljubomir Vranjes (born 3 October 1973) is a Swedish handball coach and former player who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Since June 2022, he is the head coach of USAM Nîmes Gard. Career Club Vranjes played with Redbergslids IK for eight ...

, handball player and multiple champion *

Tanja Kostić Tanja Kostić ( sr, Тања Костић, translit=Tanja Kostić; born November 10, 1972) is a Swedish retired women's basketball player best known for playing with the Oregon State Beavers from 1993 to 1996. She won a EuroLeague Women in 1998 wit ...

, basketball player *

Robert Kronberg Leif Robert Kronberg (born August 15, 1976 in Göteborg, Västra Götaland) is a Swedish male hurdler of Serbian descent. He finished 8th in the 110m hurdles final at the 2000 Olympics. He competed again in the 2004 Olympics, reaching the semi-f ...

, hurdler, Serbian mother * Susanne Nilsson, football player ;TV and Music * Alina Devecerski, singer, Serbian father *

Oscar Dronjak Oscar Fredrick Dronjak (born 20 January 1972) is a Swedish guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band HammerFall. Prior to the success of HammerFall, he also played and released albums with the death metal acts Ceremonial Oath and Crystal A ...

, guitarist of power-metal band HammerFall *

Katerina Kazelis Katerina Kazelis (born 4 March 1977) is a Swedish singer and '' Big Brother 2011'' housemate. Biography ''Big Brother'' Before entering the ''Big Brother'' house on 20 February 2011 Kazelis of Serbian and Greek descent was a school teacher. Sh ...

, singer, Serbian mother * Dragomir Mrsic, actor, Bosnian-born *

Jovan Radomir Jovan Radomir (born 8 September 1963 in Srbac, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian-Swedish television presenter, best known for presenting music programmes for Sveriges Television (SVT). His family's origin is Bosnian Serb. H ...

, Swedish television presenter * Michaela Savić, Swedish beauty pageant titleholder and model * Sven Stojanović, television director, directed several Eurovision Song Contest *

Nikola Šarčević Nikola Šarčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Шарчевић; born 9 July 1974, Örebro) is a Swedish musician of Serbian origin. He is the bassist, vocalist, and primary songwriter for the Swedish punk rock band Millencolin and also has ...

, punk rock musician * Cedomir Glisovic, actor ;Other * Dragan Joksović, crime boss * Ratko Đokić, crime boss

References

External links

Association of Serbs in Sweden

Diaspora, Swedish-Serb organisation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serbs In Sweden Serbian Orthodox Church in Sweden

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

Sweden Sweden Sweden Sweden