The part of the European route E70 in Serbia spans approximately 205 kilometers (127 mi). It crosses the country from east to west, starting at Batrovci border crossing with Croatia and ending with Vatin border crossing with Romania. It consists of two distinct sections, loosely connected in the city of Belgrade: the western section from Batrovci to Belgrade is a modern dual carriageway, merging with E75 in Serbia in New Belgrade. The eastern section is a single carriageway, leading from Pančevo bridge across the Danube, through the cities of Pančevo and Vršac to the Romanian border.

The Batrovci–Belgrade section is part of the old Belgrade-Zagreb highway, known as Highway "Brotherhood and Unity" in the socialist era. It is a continuation to Croatian A3 highway, whose last section, from Slavonski Brod to Lipovac was completed to four lanes in 2006. From the Lipovac–Batrovci border crossing near Šid, it continues eastwards, along the towns of Sremska Mitrovica, Ruma and Stara Pazova. Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport lies on the southern side of the highway. Few kilometers on the east, the major Dobanovci interchange is located. Currently, it only branches southwards, across the Ostružnica bridge towards the Ibarska highway, but after completion of the Belgrade beltway it will link E70 with the northern and southern branches of E75 (Subotica–Belgrade–Niš), allowing transit traffic to bypass Belgrade. The highway enters the New Belgrade and Zemun outskirts, and merges with E75 into the "Belgrade highway" running through the city. It crosses the Sava river at the Gazela bridge.

Serbia ⁱ/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west; additionally, it borders Albania through Kosovo, whose status as part of Serbia is disputed. Serbia covers an area of 88,361 km² and has a population of just over 7.1 million, while the capital and largest city is Belgrade.

The arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, established several states, eventually forming the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Serbia was conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution re-established the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when the National Assembly of Serbia declared independence and the legal succession to the former State Union. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province, declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.