“Multipolarity against European Integration”: EU about Russia’s Destabilising Tactics in the Balkans

The European Union Institute for Security Studies is concerned about the influence of Russia in the Western Balkans. The report is devoted to the Russia’s Destabilising Tactics in this region. European analysts say that Moscow allegedly seeks to establish multipolarity in order to prevent the European integration of the Balkan States. Russian experts believe that the EU is trying to blame Russia for its own failures in the Balkans. The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) has published a report on Russia’s strategy in the Western Balkans. The authors insist that Moscow “has raised the cost of Western Balkan integration in the EU and NATO by exploiting the region’s political and economic vulnerabilities.” In EUISS argue that Russia allegedly seeks to achieve the main goal – the rejection of these countries from the course of joining the EU. “The main goal of Russia in the Western Balkans is to bring multipolarity that denies European integration as an organising idea of regional order and establishes a “directorate” of the great powers, which will deal with competition and cooperation in the region,” – reads the report. However, Moscow has repeatedly stated that it respects the choice of the Balkan States. In particular, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Serbia’s accession to the European Union will not affect the cooperation of the two countries. “We respect the course chosen by the Serbian leadership to join the EU. Unlike Western partners, we are not trying to put Belgrade in front of an artificial choice – either you with Russia or with the European Union,” the Russian leader said. Elena Guskova, head of the Center for the Study of the Modern Balkan Crisis of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Senate of the Republika Srpska, noted that Russia's attitude to the Balkan countries has always been based solely on historical and cultural proximity. “Russia uses primarily cultural and scientific ties and relies on the historical community that has always existed between our and Serbian peoples, between our and Macedonian peoples, primarily between Orthodox peoples. And even the slightest effort in terms of connections in science, culture, education causes the Western countries a very strong irritation and, apparently, thinking about their future strategy,” the expert explained in an interview with RT. Destabilizing actions in the Balkans The EUISS report also refers to the goals pursued by Russian regional policy in the Balkans. In particular, it states that the Russia’s destabilizing tactics in the Balkans can be considered a tit-for-tat move for perceived tactics practised by the EU in the eastern neighbourhood (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), which, according to Moscow, destabilizes the situation in these countries. According to European analysts, this is an attempt to divert Brussels’ attention from the development of relations with these states. In addition, the task of the Russian Federation is to blunt the effectiveness of the European Union in the Western Balkans, the report says. “Russia’s subversive efforts (such as fuelling protests) and diplomatic attempts (such as questioning the legitimacy of agreements) to derail the resolution of the ‘name issue’ between Greece and North Macedonia or its support for the highly divisive referendum in Republic Srpska on the entity’s national day are telling in this sense,” the document says. It is worth noting that the report does not provide any evidence of such allegations. Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly voiced its position on accusations of interference in the other states affairs. On the sidelines of the 73rd General Assembly Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that if the Russia ventured 10% of Western leaders’ statements about the need for Euro-Atlantic integration of The Western Balkans, it would have been “held in infamy”. “EU High Representative Federica Mogherini in one of her speeches earlier this month said that the Balkans was the territory of the EU, and there is no place for others but for the EU. Perhaps we ought to conduct some educational work with our colleagues so that they behave a little bit more decently when dealing with the outside world,” – Lavrov noted. Publishing such reports, the West once again seeks to aggravate relations with Russia, said Deputy Director of the National Institute for Development of Modern Ideology Igor Shatrov. “Having failed on the near approaches to Russia, Western politicians interested in aggravating relations with Moscow and those who stand behind them begin to destabilising actions in the Balkans,” the political scientist said in an interview with RT. In his opinion, the main object of Western interests in the Balkans is still Serbia as a serious partner of Russia. “By escalating anti-Russian hysteria in the Balkan region, they aim to somehow pinch Serbia and draw attention to the fact that next to the countries that are lined up under Brussels and Washington, there is Belgrade, which pursues its independent policy. And in the independent Belgrade's policies see the hand of Moscow. All this is indirectly related to the interest in the involvement of Serbia, Belgrade in European institutions, the European Union and NATO,” the expert said. Earlier, analysts of the European Parliament’s Research service said about the risk of “authoritarianism” in Serbia, which, according to experts, can prevent the country from joining the EU. They Blame Russia for its Own Failures The European Union Institute for Security Studies also notes that in the next few years, the EU regional strategy will require not only confrontation with “hostile actions of Russia”, but also more vigorous attempts to stimulate and support deep reforms. According to EUISS experts, the EU can offer a favorable scenario for the development of the Balkan region. “Unlike Russia, the EU has an attractive model to offer and the financial power to succeed; but the sustained political resolve to operationalise these advantages is still a necessity,” the document explains. However, according to Elena Guskova, head of the Center for the Study of the Modern Balkan Crisis of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Senate of the Republika Srpska, the EU cannot yet offer a scenario suitable for the Balkan region. “The EU does have financial opportunities, but there is no decent scenario yet. Their support to Croats, Slovenes, Albanians was well but their program for Serbia cannot be called attractive. They have always taken a position of serious pressure on Serbia to force it to make concessions. And this whole system has greatly undermined the credibility of Europe,” the expert said. According to her, the EU is trying to blame Russia for its own failures in the Balkan region. “The EU is wrong in its main strategy – in assessing the events that took place in the Balkans. And it is hardly Russia’s fault. This is primarily the fault of the policy of the European Union,” – concluded Guskova. RT