Author(s): Sanja TEPAVCEVIC
Publication name: Romanian Intelligence Studies Review
Publisher name: Mihai Viteazul National Intelligence Academy
Publication type: Journal article
Publication date: June 30, 2024
Pagination:
Issue/ Volume: 1 (31)/2024
DOI:
Abstract:
Focusing on countries remnants of former Yugoslavia, this article traces sources
of Russia’s influence in the region, departing from the idea that these sources are of
political-diplomatic, military, economic, and socio-cultural nature. Revealing the manner
in which Russia uses its influence leverages in the Western Balkans, the article relies on an
extensive qualitative data collected through a variety of sources including scholarly
literature on the topic, statements of political leadership, interviews and informal
conversations with Russian and regional decision-makers directly involved in negotiation
processes, official documents, mass media reports, and social media groups and
discussions. Led by the question of in what ways and to what extent has Russia influenced
the post-Yugoslav region, the article sheds the light on usually overlooked aspect of
Russia’s influence on the relations between the republics of former Yugoslavia in the first
two decades of twenty-first century. The article closes with the analysis of effects of
Russia’s full-fledged 2022 invasion in Ukraine on the intensity and nature of its influence
in the Balkans.
Keywords: Post-Soviet Russia, Former Yugoslavia, Influence, Foreign Policies.
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