Russia spreads its propaganda in the Western Balkan countries through politicians, religious institutions and the media. This is the conclusion of the “Disinformation in the Balkans” summit, held on February 22 in Pristina as part of the Balkan Summit on Disinformation. The organizer of this panel is the Kosovo portal “The Geopost”, engaged in the fight against disinformation and external influences.
There were no representatives from Kosovo on the panel, but participants from the region mentioned that some Russian propaganda refers to Serbia’s refusal of Kosovo’s independence, declared in 2008. Besides Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, other states in the region recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Serbian Boris Varga, a journalist and publicist by profession, said Russian propaganda was present in his country long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and added that almost all regimes supported it.
“The hybrid war is not only directed against Ukraine but also against the West. The Western Balkans region is an ideal area to cause instability in the EU neighborhood,” he said.
He said Serbia had not imposed any sanctions against Russia and that Moscow’s propaganda spread freely to all levels of society.
“Belgrade uses pro-Russian propaganda for its own needs, sitting on two chairs. This is how Serbia is expanding its influence in Republika Srpska (the Serbian entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Montenegro,” he said.
Serbia did not adhere to sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić reiterated that he would try to maintain this position. On the other hand, Serbia supported a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Belgrade explained the non-imposition of sanctions against Moscow by traditional Serbian-Serbian ties and economic interests. Russians.
Millan Jovanović of Montenegro, a transatlantic security expert specializing in disinformation and foreign influence, said that Russia, despite sanctions, freely spreads its propaganda at different levels, mainly through political actors and the Church Serbian Orthodox.
He also pointed out that pro-Russian media were accessible to the general public in regional countries, as well as Kremlin-backed Russian media, such as Russia Today and Sputnik.
“We have similar things in the region that are interconnected; there is sentiment against Western countries, while pro-Russian sentiment is protected. A higher level of citizen education is needed to prevent the spread of misinformation,” he said.
Jovanović added that there is also a vast media network through which the propaganda of “orthodox brothers” is spread, suggesting that Ukrainians are no different from Russians.
Darko Brkan, a civil society activist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, highlighted similar problems. He said Russia exerts its greatest influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina through one of the entities, namely Republika Srpska.
He added that disinformation is spread mainly in coordination with Serbian media.
Western countries and the European Union have repeatedly made it clear to Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik that maintaining close ties with Russia and Belarus is not in line with the state’s path to European integration.
Dodik, who is under sanctions from the United States and the European Union, said Republika Srpska refused to join sanctions against Russia despite, as he said, daily pressure.
Rosana Aleksoska from North Macedonia, engaged in the fight against fake news, told the conference that Russia has significant influence and it is extremely important to talk about it as much as possible.
“We need to understand that people believe the lies of Russia, which spreads propaganda… The less we understand what is happening in Ukraine, the greater the influence of disinformation,” she said.
Gerta Zaimi from Albania, involved in Balkan politics, emphasized that Russia carries out a different type of propaganda in her country than in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, thereby trying to influence the cessation of contacts with the countries Westerners.
Earlier, at the Balkan Disinformation Summit, there was a panel on disinformation in Europe, during which an Estonian researcher, Vladimir Sazonov, said that Russian propaganda targets European and Western policies.
“Russia has a tradition of propaganda and influencing identity since imperialist times, and it doesn’t stop. This will not stop,” he said.
On February 21, the EU approved the thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia. With the expansion of restrictive measures, the list of sanctioned individuals supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine now numbers more than 2,000 people.
The final decision will be published in the Official Journal of the EU on the eve of the second anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
