Thewesternbalkans
Russian diplomacy is again directed towards Serbia and it is time for Russia to declare the Balkans as a zone of its national interests, said the doyen of Russian Balkan studies Elena Guskova, during the scientific conference “Russian-Serbian relations in the context of the formation of a multipolar world order: experience and perspectives”, held in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska (RS), on 18 May 2024.
On the basis of a research of newly discovered Russian documents, E. Guskova, chief researcher of the Department of Modern History of Central and South-Eastern European countries of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pointing out that in the early 1990s, Russian diplomacy concentrated on relations with the US and the West and distanced itself from solving the Yugoslav crisis; it had no concept of its own and its role was auxiliary. In addition, points out E. Guskova, Moscow was warned by NATO not to help the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA).
While the US declared the Balkans as a sphere of its national interests as early as the early 1990s, Russia turned to the Balkans only in the 2000s. “Better late than never,” concludes Guskova, who is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Academy of Sciences of RS.
The initiator and organizer of the conference in Banja Luka is the “Susret” (Meeting) Literary Association from Trebinje (RS) with the assistance of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development and higher education of Republika Srpska.
At the conference, Russian-Serbian cooperation was discussed at an expert level against the background of the modern transformation of international relations and global political upheavals. Possible challenges and prospects for further cooperation were indicated, and an alternative expert view on the role of Russia and the place of the Balkans in the context of the formation of a new multipolar world order was presented.
The guiding role of the state structures in the bilateral spiritual relations is emphasized by the opening of the conference by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Kalabukhov and by the active participation in it of the minister of scientific and technological development and higher education Zeljko Budimir. Ambassador Kalabukhov promised 60 scholarships for young Serbs to then work in their homeland RS, Minister Buimir set the goal of building strong institutional relations between Russia and RS.
Comment: The conference demonstrated Russia’s attempt to consolidate its political and ideological influence in Serbia and the Republika Srpska, with the methods of the so-called soft power and its main direction – public diplomacy. The scientific forum is part of the Days of Russia in Republika Srpska festival (May 17-20, 2024), which demonstrates the possibilities of Russian influence in the fields of culture, science and education in the RS – Russia’s best friend in Europe.
