Experts from Western Balkan countries on Wednesday raised concerns over increasing foreign malign influence in the region, primarily through disinformation efforts attributed to Russia.
According to Voice of America (VOA), their remarks were part of discussions at the Balkan Disinformation Summit, held in Pristina and organized by The Geopost, a platform that has been working for four years to combat the spread of false and misleading news.
Festim Rizanaj from the fact-checking platform Hibrid said Russia has been exploiting narratives related to the Kosovo war to justify its aggression against Ukraine and to spread propaganda across the Balkans.
“Russia primarily uses four key narratives involving Kosovo. First, it seeks to delegitimize Kosovo’s statehood, often referencing the Kosovo war to rewrite history by claiming NATO’s intervention violated state sovereignty and constituted aggression against Yugoslavia. Second, it portrays Kosovo as a destabilizing factor in the Balkans, pushing the idea that Kosovo is a ‘cancer’ in the region and its biggest problem. Third, it promotes narratives that Kosovo is an illegitimate state,” Rizanaj said.
Participants at the summit warned that Russia’s influence in the Western Balkans is growing and stressed the need for the region to remain aligned with Euro-Atlantic structures. Failure to do so, they cautioned, could create space for malign foreign influence.
“In the new parliament, we have around 12 MPs who openly express pro-Russian views, whereas in the previous composition, there were only two. While Russia’s political influence is growing, its economic impact is declining. I believe this is a result of influence spread through so-called religious diplomacy. For instance, last month, the Macedonian Orthodox Church recognized a pro-Russian church in Ukraine that has been banned by the Ukrainian parliament, yet it still hesitates to recognize Ukraine’s official church. The same stance is observed in Serbia, Bosnia, and even Albania. This shows that Russia still holds sway over churches in the region,” said Xhelal Neziri from North Macedonia.
Darko Brkan from Bosnia and Herzegovina noted that while Russian funding for disinformation in Bosnia appears limited, pro-Russian propaganda remains widespread.
“If you ask whether Russia is spending money on disinformation in Bosnia, I would say very little. If you ask whether there are Russian-owned disinformation outlets, perhaps one or none at all. But if you ask whether pro-Russian propaganda is widespread in Bosnia, the answer is a definite yes. This is because everything controlled by Republika Srpska’s leadership is inherently pro-Russian,” Brkan said.
Experts emphasized that strengthening regional cooperation in the Western Balkans is crucial to countering the shared challenges posed by disinformation and foreign malign influence.
