Serbia Stands by Russia at UN on Crimea Resolution

Serbia was the only country in the Balkans to back Russia over a UN General Assembly resolution put forward by Ukraine, which condemns the human rights situation in Russian-annexed Crimea and calls Russia an "occupying power".

The General Assembly approved the resolution on "The Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol [Ukraine]" on Tuesday with the support of 70 delegations.

Twenty-six states including Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela, opposed the resolution. However, many UN member states, 76, including Bosnia, abstained from voting.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister thanked the countries that backed Kiev's resolution in a tweet.

This resolution on #Crimea is the toughest one. The pressure on Russia is being increased. We are grateful for your strong position and support, friends! #CrimeaIsBleeding pic.twitter.com/dP40pO3YZF

— Pavlo Klimkin (@PavloKlimkin) December 19, 2017

The resolution, among other things, condemns arbitrary detentions and other rights violations in Crimea, the compulsory naturalisation of Ukrainian nationals and the retroactive application of Russian laws to Crimea, and calls for the resumption of Ukrainian- and Tatar-language education.

Russia seized the peninsula from Ukraine after Ukraine's pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovych, was deposed in Kiev in February 2014. Most Crimeans are ethnic Russians.

The status of the region had been in dispute ever since the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s but became a live issue once a pro-EU government took over in Kiev.

Russia will likely ignore the assembly resolution. However, its approval shows Ukraine is succeeding in keeping the subject on the international agenda.