BELGRADE -- Serbia's Interior Ministry has accepted an appeal by Russian citizen Yelena Koposova, saying she does not have to leave the country after she was earlier declared to be an "unacceptable security risk” and told to leave.
Koposova told RFE/RL on March 8 that an initial decision requiring her to leave Serbia has been revoked after authorities decided the original assessment was incorrect because the details of her professional and family life in Serbia were not included.
"I can breathe and live again. We didn't know this month what would happen the next day and whether we have a home and the right to live somewhere forever," she told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.
The ordeal started on February 2 when Koposova received a police notice rejecting her request for permanent residency and ordering her to leave Serbia within 30 days.
Koposova previously told RFE/RL that she didn’t know the reason for the decision, but she said she assumed it was related to one of the founders of the Russian Democratic Society, Peter Nikitin, who initiated a public anti-war letter that she signed along with 25 other Russian citizens.
She said she generally is not politically active but that she "couldn't help but sign" her name to the text calling for an end to Russian aggression.
Koposova said she has applied for a new temporary residence permit, which she was told would be granted on an urgent basis and that a decision will be made shortly for her husband and children regarding their request for permanent residency.
After living in Serbia for four years, she applied for permanent residency in September 2023. Until then, she and her husband and two young children had temporary residence permits.
The Russian Democratic Society -- a group of Russian expatriates who are critical of President Vladimir Putin and oppose his invasion of Ukraine -- stated that the annulment of Koposova's expulsion decision was a great victory for all who supported her.
According to Serbia’s Law on Foreigners, "an unacceptable security risk exists if a foreigner advocates, incites, aids, prepares, or undertakes activities that jeopardize the constitutional order and security of the Republic of Serbia, regional and global security of significance for the Republic of Serbia, and the legal order."
The police and BIA security agency have not responded to RFE/RL inquiries on the matter since the summer of 2023.
Serbia is a historic ally of Russia, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has not joined the EU's sanctions regime against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.