Serbia's Interior Ministry has reversed an earlier decision to expel Russian anti-war activist Anton Bobryshev, the Russian Democratic Society, an anti-war organization of Russia's Serbian diaspora, has announced.
Bobryshev, who moved to Serbia eight years ago with his wife, participated in anti-war rallies in Belgrade and organized a rally in June last year in Pancevo, a city northeast of Belgrade where he lives, in support of opposition politician and Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, who died in prison in Russia in February.
On September 16, the Interior Ministry had rejected Bobryshev's request for a temporary residency permit based on ownership of real estate and ordered him to leave the country.
Three days later, the ministry gave Bobryshev 30 days to leave Serbia, while last week it rejected his request to have his residence permit extended, arguing that the activist "threatens Serbia's security."
However, following appeals by Bobryshev and his lawyer, the ministry on October 23 rescinded its own expulsion order pending the assessment of his appeals, the Russian Democratic Society said on Telegram.
"This means that Anton will remain in Serbia legally until a decision is made on his main complaint regarding the denial of residence on the grounds of him being a 'threat to the security of the country.' If this decision is confirmed, a lawsuit will be filed in the administrative court," the anti-war organization said in its statement.
Serbian authorities began to cancel the temporary residency permits of certain members of the Russian diaspora who participated in anti-war protests in the summer of last year.
The move came after the United States imposed sanctions on the then-director of Serbia's Security Agency (BIA), Aleksandar Vulin, due to his ties to Russia and other things.
Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against its traditional ally Russia for 2 1/2 years, and Serbian officials are among the few in Europe who meet with Kremlin officials.
In July 2023, a temporary residency permit was denied to anti-war activist Vladimir Volokhonsky, and then a month later to Yevgeny Irzansky. Both had publicly come out against Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In both cases, the ministry said that there were "security obstacles" to extending their stay.
In March, a request for a permanent residency permit by the three members of the Russian family Tereh was rejected, also on security grounds.
In August, Russian citizen Yelena Koposova's application for permanent residence was rejected for a second time. Authorities said Serbian security services had data "that is an obstacle to the approval of its request."
Koposova, a literary translator from St. Petersburg, moved to Serbia with her husband and two children in 2019 and purchased a house.