Serbia is massively granting its citizenship to wealthy Russians

Citing government data, Important Stories reports that from the beginning of 2022 to April 2025, Serbia granted citizenship to more than 330 people, justifying it by saying they were "in the interests of the republic," Schengen.News reports.

Of those granted citizenship during this period, 204 are Russian citizens. However, it is noteworthy that many of the recipients have close ties to Russian intelligence services, state-owned corporations, oligarchs, and are allies of Putin.

It is noted that the EU has a visa liberalization agreement with Serbia. This means that Serbian passports offer visa-free access to the bloc, making them very attractive to Russians, particularly the elite, businessmen, and individuals associated with the Russian military-industrial complex.

Given the profiles of the beneficiaries, there are now concerns that Kremlin-linked individuals are using Serbian passports as a new backdoor to enter the EU and potentially putting the bloc's security at risk.

According to the data provided in the investigation, none of the Russians who received a Serbian passport during the aforementioned period are on the EU sanctions lists:

This means that, despite their ties to the Kremlin, they receive unrestricted access to the Schengen zone with a Serbian passport.

Among the Russians granted Serbian citizenship, 11 are current or former executives of sanctioned Russian defense companies. One recipient was reportedly Vladimir Putin's top bodyguard and served in a unit of the FSB.

It is important that the EU Commission has expressed concern about Serbia granting citizenship to Russians as early as 2023 and has already warned the country about the need to take appropriate measures.

Concerned about potential security risks in the bloc, an EU Commission representative said Serbia should harmonize its visa policy and not grant citizenship to Russian citizens through an accelerated procedure.

In addition, the European Commission has threatened Serbia with the suspension of visa-free travel if the granting of citizenship by investment schemes is deemed to pose an increased risk to the public and internal security of EU member states.