The opinions of students from serbia and the republic of srpska regarding contem-porary Russia

Abstract

©2018 r. This paper analyzes the opinions of students from the Republic of Serbia and Republic of Srpska regarding contemporary Russia. The process of growing up of the'new generations of young people and the development of their own opinions is influenced by the turbulent social changes whose consequences are still present great economic crisis, civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the creation of a complex and dysfunctional country that is in a permanent political conflict,the bombing of Serbia by NATO,the destruction of economy (through privatization or physical destruction),the decline In living standards, inefficiency of social institutions,as well as the contradictory attitude of the international community and the great powers towards the Balkans. The public is dominated by opposing opinions regarding Russia:on one hand, there is traditional Russophilia and pragmatic Russophilia, while on the other hand there are negative attitudes towards Russia which are dominant in the discourse of pro-Western media and among some political elite. The empirical research of students'opinions has shown that they generally have positive opinion about Russia. However,the students from the Republic of Srpska have a more positive stance toward Russia. A more unstable political situation in the Republic of Srpska than in Serbia has resulted in a noticeably more positive stance toward Russia among the students from the Republic of Srpska. Russia is seen as the key ally and friend primarily due to a similar cultural identity.