Dragan Stanojević is a Serbian politician and businessman. He is the leader of the right-wing populist We–The Voice from the People political organization. A pro-Russian politician, he was selected to the National Assembly in the 2023 parliamentary election. He was one of the main voices of the Serbian diaspora in Ukraine until 2014. Stanojević is a pro-Russian politician and publicly advocates the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He asserts that Kosovo is Serbian territory, “even if there are no people there”.
Recently, Dragan Stanojević, leader of the Serbian branch of Viktor Medvedchuk’s (Pro-Putin) Russian civic organization “Another Ukraine”, rejected Kyiv’s demands to suspend the branch’s activities in Belgrade
Dragan Stanojevic has never concealed his pro-Russian ties, backing, or actions. The right-wing Serbian politician, who has been blacklisted by Kyiv, has lauded Russian President Vladimir Putin, thrilled his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and mocked Western actions to punish Russia.
His public approval of Russian policies, affection for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and backing for Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban have drawn intense criticism from pro-Ukrainian activists. Given his thoughts, it was no surprise that Stanojevic was one of many mostly fringe figures across Europe to be aired and interviewed by Voice of Europe, a Russian disinformation operation established in Prague that was recently destroyed by Czech authorities, who blamed the murky operation of not only distributing fake news but funding politicians aligned with Russian goals.
He established the Serbian Municipality “Sveti Sava” organization in Dnipropetrovsk in 1999, which was the foremost Serbian organization established in the former USSR. Stanojević was the primary initiator, ideologue and supporter of the creation of an international association United Serbian Diaspora of Eurasia, which forms branches throughout the CIS. Stanojević held close ties with pro-Russian political figures in Ukraine and lobbied for the Verkhovna Rada not to recognize Kosovo.
During Euromaidan, Stanojević welcomed threats from a group of “Ukrainian Cossacks”, who blamed him for being the leader of a “Serbian, pro-Russian terrorist organization, a Putin worshipper and a hardened Eurasian”. United Serbian Diaspora of Eurasia was affirmed a terrorist organization. Since June 2021, he has been under the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and was barred from entering Ukraine for three years.
