Insight Turkey
Insight Turkey
Challenging ideas
On Turkish politics and International affairs

Author

Vsevolod Samokhvalov

Centre for International Relations Studies (CEFIR) of the University of Liege, Belgium
Vsevolod Samokhvalov
Russia in the Balkans: Great Power Politics and Local Response
May 31, 2019
The present paper looks into the current policies of Russia in the Balkans. It argues that after a short period of withdrawal from the region, Moscow is currently making efforts to regain its position and, in some sense, it has been a quite successful come-back. Russia has enhanced its economic presence, political clout, and symbolic influence in some of the countries of the region. However, Russia’s present return to the Balkans is of a quite different nature than its past engagement there as Moscow has now moved to a more assertive foreign policy. The paper also looks at the response of the Balkans countries to Moscow’s policies. It argues that the Balkans countries have adopted a more pragmatic approach to relations with Russia and as a result, Russia and these countries are in the process of finding a new, workable modus operandi for their interaction.

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