Serbian-Spanish relations are foreign relations between Serbia and Spain. Both countries established diplomatic relations on October 14, 1916. Serbia has an embassy in Madrid. Spain has an embassy in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. Both countries are member states of the United Nations, Interpol,

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Spain is member state of the European Union since 1986 and Serbia is a candidate country since 2012 negotiating its future membership which Spain is strongly supporting. Spain is member state of NATO alliance while Serbia is a militarily neutral country with strong historical relations with the Non-Aligned Movement. In relation to third parties, both countries supported position of Argentina in its Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom in the past. Spain is one of five member states of the European Union that does not recognize unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and is actively opposing its membership in international organisations such as UNESCO and Interpol. In addition, Spain is supporting Serbia's insistence on establishment of Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo as provided by the 2013 Brussels Agreement signed under the auspices of the European Union. Serbia strongly supported Spanish territorial integrity during the

2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis The 2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, also known as the Catalan crisis, was a political conflict between the Government of Spain and the Generalitat de Catalunya under former President Carles Puigdemont—the government of the autonomou ...

, with Serbian Foreign Minister stating that Spain is one of the best international friends of Serbia.

History

After Expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs ruling Castile and Aragon many Sephardi Jews settled in Balkan provinces of what was then Ottoman Empire. With the rise of nationalism among

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

of Ottoman Empire they have organised rebellions against Muslim ruling elite starting with the 1804 Serbian Revolution against Ottoman rule. Revolution was running in parallel with the Napoleonic Wars. Process of

Decline of the Ottoman Empire In the late eighteenth century, the Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Old Regime) faced numerous enemies. In response to these threats, the empire initiated a period of internal reform which came to be known as the Tanzimat, which succeeded in significan ...

will continue until the end of First Balkan War in 1913 with the gradual reconquest of the Balkan peninsula by newly independent states and southward retreat of Ottoman Empire. In 1882 philosopher and senator

Ángel Pulido Ángel Pulido Fernández (1852–1932) was a Spanish physician, publicist and Liberal politician, who stood out as prominent philosephardite during the Restoration. Biography Born on 2 February 1852 in the calle de las Infantas, Madrid, to a hu ...

is writing how one Sephardic merchant at the market in Belgrade told him ''"I am not Spanish from there

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

but Spanish from the East."'' In the same year Milan I of Serbia was awarded with the Order of Charles III on the occasion of his proclamation as the King of Serbia. In 1895 Đorđe Popović-Daničar have published the first translation of Don Quixote into Serbian which according to him was ''"the best novel in the world"''. In his translation undertaking he was helped by Sephardi Jew Hajim Davičo. In 1903 Vicente Blasco Ibáñez arrived at Belgrade on the Orient Express service where he stated that city is ''"relatively cosmopolitan, with trams, cafes, and theaters, but full of nervous military men, women wanting to imitate French fashion and drunk orthodox priests"''. Since 1910 Spain had one diplomatic representative in the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

, Mr Francisco Serrat i Bonastre, who will stay at that function throughout the Balkan Wars all until the 1914 and the beginning of First World War which began after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, July Crisis and Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

First World War and interwar years

Serbian Campaign of World War I resulted in Serbia losing a third of its entire population. After the

Serbian army's retreat through Albania The Great Retreat, also known in Serbian historiography as the Albanian Golgotha ( sr, Албанска голгота / ''Albanska golgota''), was a strategic withdrawal of the Royal Serbian Army, which marked the end of the second Serbian ca ...

, which resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, the country's government together with some of its population settled at the Greek island of

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. Spain was a neutral power in the war but one which was actively involved in mediation among the conflicting parties. At one point Spain was involved in the provision and protection of 1,500 Serbian children and the release of 100 prisoners of war in Banja Luka in 1917. The Serbian Government on Corfu and Spain established diplomatic relations in 1916 and in the same year the first Serbian ambassador arrived at Madrid. During the interwar years, famous Serbian poet Jovan Dučić (1919-1921) and Ivo Andrić (1928-1929, 1961 recipient of the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

) were serving as ambassadors of the newly founded Kingdom of Yugoslavia to Spain. At the same time Kalmi Baruh was in Spain on scholarship received from the Spanish Government studying for the post-doctoral historical studies in the Spanish center of Historical Studies, Madrid.

Spanish Civil War

Francoist Spain Period

Post-Franco Spanish-Yugoslav relations

The relations between Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kingdom of Spain were relatively cordial since the end of Francoist period in Spain. They were mostly kept at the diplomatic level as Spain was focusing on its integrations into European Community and NATO. Some among the Spanish politicians were considering the option to follow the Yugoslav Non-Aligned Movement way like Malta and Cyprus did at the time. Future Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos served in Belgrade as a young diplomat in the 1980s. Spanish presence in Yugoslavia would later be transferred to Serbia and would not be completely cut of even during the years of Sanctions against Yugoslavia.

Yugoslav Wars

In 1991, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain Francisco Fernández Ordóñez proposed to the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Community to initiate a quick recognition and enlargement procedure with Yugoslavia as the only way to prevent the breakup of the country. Spain preferred to be perceived as the neutral player in the region during the conflict but its foreign policy was generally sympathetic towards Serbia which was perceived as the core state of former multinational and diverse Yugoslav state. It was against Spanish political instincts to recognize independence of Croatia and Slovenia at the time of

Breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, yet as a new member state of the European Community country was reluctant to break the European unity. At the time, newly united Germany was the strongest advocate of independence for Croatia and Slovenia with all 12 members of the European Community, as well as Austria and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

following German push for recognition.

1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

Under the leadership of

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...

, the Spanish Government had decided that the

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Constitution o ...

would be a part of the coalition enacting the

1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

. Out of 16 NATO member states at the time, 13 took part in the intervention. The member states that did not partake in the bombings were Iceland, which maintained no standing army; Luxembourg with a very small standing army; and Greece as the only major member state which expressed strong opposition to the intervention. 38% of Spanish citizens supported the participation of Spain and 42% of them opposed it. At the same time all of the Spanish

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

in parliament, with the exception of the radical left which held 23 out of 350 seats, voted in favor of Spanish participation in NATO intervention. Javier Solana was the NATO Secretary-General at the time of intervention. Spanish F-18s were among the first planes to strike targets in Serbia; Aznar's Government supported subsequent interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq as well.

21st Century

On 17 February 2008 Assembly of Kosovo adopted its second unilateral declaration of independence. Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was not under ''de facto'' control of Government of Serbia at the time of unilateral declaration of independence and was under the control of the United Nations UNMIK and NATO-led

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defunct ...

peacekeeping force missions. Spain, together with Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia among the European Union member states refused to recognize independence of Kosovo on the basis of unilateral declaration without agreement reached through the negotiations with the central government in Belgrade fearing the potential consequences of the Kosovo independence precedent for the world order. By mid-September 2009 Spain finished its complete withdrawal from the KFOR mission as it was no longer ‘status-neutral’. The press and experts criticized the withdrawal but 70% of Spanish citizens viewed the withdrawal from Kosovo as a positive move. Two weeks after announcing the withdrawal from KFOR, the Spanish government announced its decision to withdraw the nine Spanish policemen that where part of EULEX mission.

Relations since the beginning of European integrations of Serbia

On 11 January 2009 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain

Miguel Angel Moratinos --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael (given name), Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands ...

urged the

Government of Netherlands The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...

to unblock Serbia's Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union which at the time was already signed but its implementation had been blocked by the Netherlands. After the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

's recommendation of 28 February 2012, Serbia received full candidate status on 1 March. On 28 June 2013 the European Council endorsed the Council of Ministers conclusions and recommendations to open accession negotiations with Serbia. Spain is strongly supporting Serbia's accession negotiations. During the

, Serbia expressed strong support for the territorial integrity of Spain and for the actions of Spanish Government. On the meeting of European External Action Service in 2018 Spanish representatives together with some of those from Visegrád Group required to get actively involved in the EU facilitated

Belgrade–Pristina negotiations The Belgrade–Pristina dialogue is a series of EU-facilitated talks between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo. Serbia claims Kosovo as its southern province under United Nations administration, and rejects its independence. Kosovo consider ...

. Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić visited Spain on 23 February 2022, with scheduled meetings with king Felipe VI and prime minister

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

, seeking to seal the purchase of two military aircraft C-295. On 29 July 2022, in the wake of a visit to the Western Balkans (including Belgrade) of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and a meeting with Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, the former stressed the Spanish support to the advance in Serbia's EU membership negotiations, also declaring that "international law and the territorial integrity of nations must be respected" in relation to Kosovo.

Cultural relations

Literature

In his novel ''"Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea"'', Italian novelist Claudio Magris is describing 1734 settlement of

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance peoples, Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of National and regional identity in Spain, national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex Hist ...

in the town of Bečkerek in modern-day Vojvodina where they have established a so-called New Barcelona. Magris, C. (2013). Dunav. p. 299. Fraktura. Zagreb. Northern Serbian city of Zrenjanin is mentioned in the novel "Waiting for Robert Capa" (under its old name of Petrovgrad) of Spanish author

Susana Fortes Susana Fortes (born in 1959 in Pontevedra, Spain) is a Spanish writer and columnist. Fortes graduated in geography and history at the University of Santiago de Compostela and in American history at the University of Barcelona. She combines her p ...

. Jewish protagonist's brothers who are running from persecution, are settling in Petrovgrad, just on the border with Romanian, because as protagonist claim, there was never tradition of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

in Zrenjanin.

Economic relations

Joint ''Spanish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce'' ( es, Camara de Comercio Hispano-Serbia, sr, Шпанско-српска привредна комора) was established in Madrid on July 6, 2017. As its first president Oscar de la Heras was elected, and Serbian Ambassador in Spain Danko Prokić as its first honorary president.

Bilateral meetings in 2007–2017 period

Spanish officials in Serbia

* 26 February 2007; Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visit to Belgrade and Priština. * 17 and 18 September 2007;

Bernat Soria Bernat Soria Escoms (born 7 May 1951) is a Spanish scientist. He is also affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, for whom he served as Minister of Health from 2007 to 2009. He was educated at the University of Valencia (MD, PhD), a ...

(Minister of Health) attends 57th Session of the Committee Regional Office of WHO in Belgrade. * 10 January 2009; Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visit to Belgrade. * 11 December 2009; Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visit to Belgrade. * 20 April 2010; Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visit to Belgrade. * 28 and 29 March 2011; Diego López Garrido (Secretary of State for the European Union) visit to Belgrade. * 14 June 2011; Trinidad Jiménez (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visit to Belgrade. * 4-6 September 2011; Juan Antonio Yañez-Barnuevo (Secretary of State for Foreign Relations) attends 50th Anniversary Non-Aligned Movement Meeting in Belgrade. * 14 October 2011; María Luisa Cava de Llano (Acting Ombudsman) visit to Serbia. * 16 March 2012; Miguel Cardena (Secretary of State for Sport) attends XII Conference of the Council of European Ministers of Sport. * 21 and 22 March 2012;

Jorge Fernández Díaz Jorge Fernández Díaz (born 6 April 1950) is a Spanish politician and a member of the Partido Popular (PP). Early life and education Born on 6 April 1950 in Valladolid, he was the son of a military officer and Deputy Inspector-Chief of the B ...

(Minister of the Interior) visit to Serbia. * 21 and 22 November 2012; Fernando García Sánchez (Chief of the Defence Staff) visit to Serbia. * 2-4 December 2015; Ignacio Ybáñez (Secretary of State for Foreign Relations) visit to Serbia. * 23 and 24 May 2016;

José Manuel García-Margallo José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil (born 13 August 1944) is a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 2011 to 2016. Since 2019, he has been a member of the European Parliament. Early life and educa ...

(Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) together with Fernando Eguidazu (Secretary of State for the European Union) visit to Serbia. * 22 June 2017; Juan López Herrera (Director General for Bilateral Relations with European Union Countries) and José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares (Head of the International Law Division) visit to Serbia. * 20 July 2017;

Enrique Mora Enrique Mora Benavente (born October 15, 1958, in Córdoba) is a Spanish diplomat who has been serving as the Chief of Staff of Josep Borrell, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union and as deputy secre ...

(Director General for Foreign Policy) visit to Serbia. * 30 November 2017; Jorge Toledo (Secretary of State for the European Affairs) and Juan López Herrera (Director General for Bilateral Relations with European Union Countries) visit to Serbia. * 18-20 July 2017;

José Manuel Maza José Manuel Maza Martín (23 October 1951 – 18 November 2017) was a Spanish prosecutor, judge, criminologist and writer. He served as the 89th Attorney General of Spain from November 2016 until his death on 18 November 2017. Legal career He ...

(Attorney General of the State) "Twinning" project closure.

Serbian officials in Spain

* 18 July 2007; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visit to Madrid where he meets with Miguel Ángel Moratinos and

José Antonio Alonso José Antonio Alonso Suárez (28 March 1960 – 2 February 2017) was a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) politician, cabinet minister and judge. He was born in León. A jurist (judge since 1985 after graduating from the University of Leon ...

. * 9 and 10 October 2007; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends OSCE Conference of Ministers of Foreign Relations on the topic of discrimination of Muslims. * 29 and 30 November 2007; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends OSCE Conference of Ministers of Foreign Relations and meets Miguel Ángel Moratinos. * 14 December 2007;

Dušan Spasojević Dušan Spasojević ( cyrl, Душан Спасојевић; 10 July 1968 – 27 March 2003), known by the nicknames Duća and Šiptar (meaning “Albanian”) was the head of one of the largest Serbian criminal groups on record, the Zemun clan ...

(Minister of Defense) visit to Madrid where he meets with the State Secretary for Defense. * December 2007;

Snežana Malović Snežana Malović ( sr-cyr, Снежана Маловић, , born 10 September 1976) is a Serbian politician and former Minister of Justice in the Government of Serbia, and a former member of the Democratic Party. She served as Deputy Secretary t ...

(Minister of Justice) visit to Madrid. * 15 January 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends I Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations and meete with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs. * 22 April 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visit to Madrid where he meets with Miguel Ángel Moratinos. * 4 July 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visit to Madrid. * 1 December 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Ivica Dačić (Minister of the Interior) visit to Madrid. * 9 March 2009; Boris Tadić ( President of Serbia) and Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visit to Madrid. * 23 February 2010; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visit to Madrid. * 31 January 2011; Ivica Dačić (Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior) signing of bilateral agreement on fight against crime and organized crime. * 6 October 2011;

Mirko Cvetković Mirko Cvetković ( sr-Cyr, Мирко Цветковић, ; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and former politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2008 to 2012 and as finance minister from 2007 to 2008, and again from ...

( Prime Minister of Serbia) Hispanic-Serbian Business Forum. * 10 April 2012; Snežana Malović (Minister of Justice) visit to Madrid. * 3 May 2012; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visit to Madrid. * 28 May 2013; Suzana Grubješić (Vice Prime Minister for European Integrations of Serbia) visit to Madrid. * 6 June 2017; Katarina Lalić (Vice Prime Minister) attends OSCE Conference in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. * 2017; Katarina Lalić (Vice Prime Minister) meets with the State Secretary López Herrera and Spanish director for international legal advice for Kosovo. * 8 June 2017; Ivica Dačić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visit to Madrid. * 19-21 July 2017; Jana Ljubičić (Delegate from the Ministry of the Interior) and Vladimir Rebić (Director of the Serbian Police) visit to Spain. * 26 and 27 September 2017; Ivica Dačić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends opening of the Honorary Consulate of Serbia in Zaragoza.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Serbia has an embassy in Madrid. * Spain has an embassy in

. File:Viviendas del arquitecto Ricardo García Guereta.JPG, Embassy of Serbia in Madrid File:Spain embassy in Belgrade.jpg, Embassy of Spain in Belgrade

References

External links

Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Spain

Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Madrid, Kingdom of Spain

Spanish Ministry of Foreign Relations about relations with Serbia (in Spanish only)

Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

Spanish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce

Instituto Cervantes de Belgrado
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbia-Spain relations Spain Bilateral relations of Spain