BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia feted Russia's Vladimir Putin with troops, tanks and fighter-jets on Thursday to mark seven decades since the Red Army liberated Belgrade, balancing its ambitions of European integration with enduring reverence for a big-power ally deeply at odds with the West.
The display of military pomp, at a moment when the West says Russian troops are making war in Ukraine, laid bare the balancing act Serbia – a candidate for membership of the European Union – has been forced into by a crisis recalling the Cold War.