Belgrade Gets Statue of Russia's Last Tsar

A new statue of the last tsar of Russia will be erected in Belgrade in the park on Kralja Milana street, near the Russian cultural centre, Ruski Dom.

The monument has been donated by Russia, which will also fund the renovation of the park in collaboration with several Russian companies.

“Serbia and Belgrade owe a lot to Nicholas Romanov,” Goran Vesic, a member of the outgoing Belgrade provisional council, told reporters.

“During World War I, when the Serbian army fled to Albania under attack from the Austrian and German armies, the tsar sent a letter to Russia's allies [England and France], warning that Russia would withdraw from the war if they did not send ships to help the Serbian army,” Vesic said.

“By doing this, he made a great contribution to saving the Serbian army. Our obligation is to honour the man who did this for our people,” he added.

Vesic pointed that after the Communists took power in Russia in the 1917 October Revolution, Belgrade hosted the second largest number of Russian refugees, after Paris.

“Richer people went to Paris while the middle class came to Belgrade. Many beautiful buildings that still stand today were built by Russian architects,” Vesic said, speaking of the connections between the Russian and Serbian peoples.

Nicholas was murdered along with the whole of his family at Ekaterinburg in 1917, after the Bolshevik revolution.