"Media, organizations, church", The Geopost panelists reveal Russia's methods of disinformation in the Balkans

Disinformation in the Balkans - Russian influence was discussed on Thursday in Pristina at a panel consisting of participants from the region organized by The Geopost.

All panelists shared their experiences in relation to Russia's intentions to destabilize the region through disinformation of many forms.

Boris Varga from Serbia has shown how Serbia uses Russian propaganda for its own needs in relation to its neighbors.

"The increase in the presence of Russian propaganda in Serbia began much earlier than Russia's total invasion of Ukraine. The hybrid war was not only against Ukraine but also against the West. The Western Balkan region, which is fragile in terms of security, was an ideal field to cause instability in the European Union's neighbors. Putin justified the annexation of Crimea by taking the example of Kosovo, even though the cases had no similarities between Crimea and Kosovo," Varga said.

Rosana Aleksoska from North Macedonia said that Russia's influence in her country penetrates not only through the media but also other platforms, including the Orthodox Church.

"Russia has nothing to offer the Balkan countries. Russia is not waging war in Ukraine only against Ukrainians, but this is a war against democracy, freedom, freedom of expression, against all the democratic values ​​that the world and open societies really fight for," she said, adding that Russia's influence as a terrorist and authoritarian state must "be understood in the context of the Balkan countries."

That disinformation in Montenegro is done with the aim of creating a narrative that Montenegrins are the same people as Serbs, said Milan Jovanović.

"When we talk about Russia in Montenegro, we have to understand that we have to talk about a network. So, I'm not just talking about the media and disinformation, I'm talking about different political parties, different organizations, Orthodox ones that are very visible, that are under the umbrella of the Serbian church, and the church, according to data from the last three years, is the most reliable institution," he said.

He spoke about the narrative being spread that Montenegro is Serbia and that this is a model used by Russia in Ukraine that claims that Ukrainians are no different from Russians.

"To show the level of support the church has for the Russians now, the church has organized public events supporting Russia. In October 2022, the head of the Serbian church expressed full support for Russian aggression. By making it the most credible institution you can know how infected society is."

Gerta Zaimi from Albania said that her country differs from those of her predecessors and those of neighboring Russian countries because Albania was not part of either Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union.

"Albania is totally dedicated to the West, so we can say that Russia enters Albania and spreads disinformation," she said.

Zaimi mentioned several reasons why Russia attempts to intervene in Albania to misinform, which according to her are: support for Kosovo's independence, NATO membership, the war in Ukraine and Albania's position alongside it, as well as its role in the UN.

"Without strong ties to religion, coexistence is very strong, but at the same time it is also a relationship that is created with religious institutions that has emerged slowly. So in this regard, in recent years, Russia has intervened to create through propaganda disinformation and a division among that religious coexistence that exists in Albania. Manipulating news related to the war in Ukraine, manipulating data related to Russia's military situation in the territory within Ukraine. Manipulating the situation in Kosovo is one of its goals and advancing the dialogue by blaming Western partners for the failure to advance this dialogue and by creating and nurturing the anti-Western spirit in the policies that the Kosovo leadership is making at these moments," she said.

Disinformation in the Balkans was the topic of one of the panels of the Balkan Summit on Disinformation, organized by The Geopost, which brought together experts in this field from different countries of the world in the capital.

/TheGeopost