Russia, with propaganda all over the world, invests a lot of money in the Western Balkans as well

Russia with propaganda all over the world faces the soft approach of Western countries. It also has a great influence with propaganda in Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo.

However, the Orthodox Church is Russia’s strong point, which it is using to “put its hands” into the politics of the Balkans.

This was said at the conference “Russian influence in the Balkans – Ukraine crisis”, which was held today in Pristina. It was also said that Russia is interested in creating tensions, disrupting social cohesion and creating distrust in institutions and democracy.

Ljubomir Filipovic, a journalist from Montenegro, said that Montenegro and Bosnia are heavily influenced by Russian propaganda.

“NATO protects us, it is good that we are far from Russia. NATO protects us from Russia. Yesterday we received a cyber attack from Russia, according to our hackers… They couldn’t give me a tax receipt because of that attack. It is scary what Russia is doing.

When talking about the security threats that are happening in Kosovo, it is scary that something like the war in Ukraine can happen here… We are very influenced by Russian propaganda. The Orthodox Church is the main one that Russia uses to “put its hands” in the politics of the Balkans. They are interested in creating tensions, and they have also focused on disrupting social cohesion and creating distrust in institutions and democracy, and they have succeeded very well,” he said.

He added that there are citizens who feel betrayed by the approach of the West towards Putin and Vucic.

“What scares me the most is the West’s approach to the Russian threat. The peaceful strategy that has been practiced in the case of Russia has also been practiced in the case of Vucic and it has produced negative results.

This approach of the West is damaging the trust of other countries towards Bosniaks, Montenegrins, etc. The West must know that Serbian propaganda cannot be separated from the Orthodox Church. The Serbian world is a copy of the Russian world… We must work for the Serbian government to create regional stability, and we must stop pretending that Serbia is not part of Russian propaganda,” he said.

Ukrainian journalist Daria Mescheriakova said that Russia is terrorizing the whole world, adding that Russian propaganda is doing its job.

“Russia wants to destroy the population not only the country (Ukraine). Russia’s agenda is to insist that both sides are to blame by saying ‘this is madness being done by both sides’… This is a new Russian narrative…

Russia has invested a lot of money in recent years, especially in right-wing politicians around the world. All of them say that if they stop Russia’s supplies, then everything will stop. They invest a lot of money in their agenda even here in the Balkans, because they want the world to be destabilized, to sow doubts. This is their intention, to make people doubt. They aim to convince the world that it is Ukraine’s fault. “Now Putin needs dialogue because he has no capacity for counter-offensives,” she said.

Dietmar Pichler, an expert on disinformation in Austria, has said that the state of Austria has also been greatly influenced by Russian propaganda.

Security researcher Ruslan Trad compared Russian disinformation in Syria, Ukraine and the Balkans.

He said that 700 websites have been found in Bulgaria that have distributed talking points that the war in Ukraine is just an operation.

“In Bulgaria, we found 700 web pages that distributed talking points that the war in Ukraine is not a war but an operation…The propaganda coming from the Kremlin is the same as in Syria, Libya…only the local aspect changes…. Our governments must cooperate as a common front against such campaigns, especially if the war in Ukraine continues for several years,” he says.

Furthermore, he says that in Bulgaria they don’t have concrete campaigns to counter the propaganda even at the local level, because they don’t have sites that verify the facts.