[Wallace T.]

Serbia, Kosovo, and Moldova are the only holdouts in Europe to NATO. Ireland, Switzerland, and Austria are officially neutral but they are de facto NATO allies. Ireland depends on Britain and the United States for protection and its economy is tied to the UK and the EU. Switzerland and Austria are entirely surrounded by NATO members and both are economic satellites of Germany, the leader of the EU. It is understandable why Russia does not trust the European nations. In 1914, when Austria threatened Serbia with invasion, Russia intervened to protect that Balkan country. The Serbs are grateful to Russia for that intervention, although it triggered World War I.

[dfwgator]

Austria was more at fault for WWI than Germany.

[Verginius Rufus]

I think Serbia overestimates the extent to which Russia is their friend. Russia is their friend only when it serves Russia's interests. The Russian actions in 1914 did not help Serbia, which was overrun by Austria in the war. After the war Serbia got to annex Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Vojvodina and Montenegro (the Kingdom of Serbia became the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes), but Russia was not involved in the Paris Peace Conference because the Bolsheviks had taken power by then.

In WWII the Russians supported the Communist Tito rather than the Serbian nationalist Chetniks.