[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.

[Wallace T.]

I would not count the period when Russia was under Communist rule. By its ideology, Communism is anti-nationalist and, while Communists may encourage nationalism when it is in their interest, their primary goal is the promotion of Communism. In World War II, the Soviets supported the Communist enemies of the Croatians and the Germans, rather than the nationalist faction. Unfortunately for Stalin and his successors, Tito did not show his gratitude and did not join the Warsaw Pact, even though he was a Communist.