Thewesternbalkans.
On March 14, 2025, the Second Annual International Forum “Russia – the Balkans in the Architecture of the Multipolar World. Prospects for Economic Integration” was held in Moscow. In addition to delegations from regions of the Russian Federation, among the speakers and participants were representatives from all countries of the former Yugoslavia – Serbia, North Macedonia, Republika Srpska (BiH), Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, as well as Bulgaria. The organizers of the forum are traditionally the Center for International Cooperation “Russian-Balkan Dialogue” and the Russian-Balkan Center for Business Cooperation and Culture. The first forum was held in March 2024 in Moscow, and the third is planned to be held again in Moscow in 2026.
According to the organizers, the forum exceeded all expectations: over 100 participants from more than 15 regions of the Russian Federation, as well as from countries of the Balkan Peninsula and Eastern Europe, took part in it.
According to speakers, participants and experts, this has not happened for a long time – at one table within the framework of an economic forum, representatives of business and society from many Balkan countries, including “unfriendly” ones, meet. The forum demonstrates the desire of businessmen from different countries of Eastern Europe to cooperate in various areas.
One of the important results of the discussions was the initiation of several working groups and communication platforms for ongoing discussion and systematic development of business between Russia and the Balkan countries. The participants in the forum united around the decision to create a Russian-Balkan Business Council, as the foundation of horizontal relations between Russian regions and Balkan countries.
Comment: A foundation is being created for building local and horizontal relations between Russian regions and Balkan countries, without dependence on the political situation and without the influence of central authorities. Russian experts believe that relations between municipal entities in the economic and humanitarian spheres are the basis and the key to the development of relations in the long term.
