Serbia is a landlocked state in south-eastern Europe, between the Pannonian Lowland and the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Croatia; It has around 7 million inhabitants and its capital is Belgrade. The Republic of Serbia was part of Yugoslavia until 1992, subsequently reduced to the sole state union of Serbia and Montenegro but, following the referendum of 21 May 2006, Montenegro voted for independence, the federation was dissolved and Serbia and Montenegro became independent states. The official language is Serbian, spoken by 88% of the population, officially written in the Cyrillic alphabet; however, the Latin alphabet is also widespread. On a political level, Serbia is a semi-presidential parliamentary republic in which the National Assembly, democratically elected by the people every four years, is linked to the government by a relationship of trust. The President of the Republic is elected every five years and generally holds ceremonial functions but acquires greater powers when at the same time a majority of his own political color is created in parliament. Serbia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Serbia is considered by the International Monetary Fund as a country with medium to high development, with a growing economy and has been declared a free country by Freedom House, even if there is no shortage of possible authoritarian tendencies. On March 2, 2014, the Republic of Serbia officially became a candidate for membership in the European Union, and on December 14, 2015, membership negotiations officially began. At the same time, however, Serbia is also one of Russia's most faithful and historic geopolitical allies, which could create tensions with the European Union in the future, alteration of trade agreements and, in the worst case scenario, this could also affect the index passport of the country.