{"id":25993,"date":"2018-02-24T16:17:58","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T16:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/24\/eu-and-russia-vie-for-influence-in-volatile-balkans-region\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:15:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:15:04","slug":"eu-and-russia-vie-for-influence-in-volatile-balkans-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2018\/02\/24\/eu-and-russia-vie-for-influence-in-volatile-balkans-region\/","title":{"rendered":"EU and Russia vie for influence in volatile Balkans region"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BELGRADE, Serbia \u2014 For years, Russia has worked to gain influence in Southeast Europe, using Serbia as a foothold to establish a friendly pocket on a hostile continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The European Union finally is pushing back. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is embarking on a seven-nation Balkans tour Sunday to promote the EU\u2019s new eastward expansion strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2017\/12\/21\/russia-negotiating-more-arm-sales-to-balkan-ally-serbia\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"194\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP17355404305314.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Russia negotiating more arm sales to Balkan ally Serbia<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Serbia&#039;s president says close military ties with Russia have \u201csignificantly changed and strengthened\u201d Serbia\u2019s position internationally.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia mainly wants to discourage the Western Balkan countries \u2014 Albania, Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia \u2014 from joining NATO. But Moscow also is trying to deter them from joining the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The EU sees the prospect of membership as an incentive for reform in the volatile Balkans region, which was torn apart by war in the 1990s. Its expansion strategy puts Serbia and Montenegro in position to join should the bloc open its doors to more members, tentatively by 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2018\/02\/13\/us-cautiously-watching-eu-military-proposal\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-893062822.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US cautiously watching EU military proposal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. wants to make sure the European Union&#039;s new PESCO defense agreement does not negatively impact NATO.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Serbia is a major target of Moscow\u2019s anti-Western activities in Europe because the two Slavic and predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christian nations share deep cultural and historical ties. Their bonds also have experienced lows and highs, especially since the former Yugoslavia refused to join the Soviet bloc in 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17293495860962.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17293495860962.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17293495860962.jpg.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17293495860962.jpg.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17293495860962.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Serbian Army MiG-29 jet fighters perform during ceremony in Batajnica, military airport near Belgrade, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. (Darko Vojinovic\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Kremlin is so concerned about losing its ally that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeatedly argued while in Serbia last week that EU membership isn\u2019t all it\u2019s cut out to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lavrov also gave a warning; the EU\u2019s repeated calls for Serbia to align its foreign policies with the bloc as a precursor to membership and to impose sanctions on Russia, he said, are the same \u201cmistake\u201d the West made by pressuring war-torn Ukraine to choose between it and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lavrov told Russia\u2019s Rossiya 1 TV on Saturday that both Serbia and Russia are \u201cthe object of the West\u2019s overt pressure\u201d to turn Serbia against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe love our countries, and the Serbs love Russia, and the Russians love Serbia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2017\/12\/13\/serbia-turns-to-russia-for-air-defense-systems-helo-procurement\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635744658876098724-gettyimages-472948442jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Serbia turns to Russia for air defense systems, helo procurement<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Serbia&#039;s president reportedly said the country &quot;is on a European path, but the difference between Serbia and other countries in the region is that Serbia does not want to join NATO.&quot;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Serbian political analyst Bosko Jaksic thinks the \u201cRussians are getting increasingly nervous as they lose allies one by one in the Balkans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s not clear how far they are willing to go to preserve their interests here, but judging from what they did in Ukraine, they are willing to go far,\u201d Jaksic said, referring to Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lavrov also said that \u201cEurope is facing an unhealthy situation\u201d because of NATO\u2019s eastward expansion. Montenegro joined the Western military organization last year despite Moscow\u2019s strong opposition. He praised Belgrade for maintaining military neutrality and refusing to join NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are convinced that this status is one of the main factors ensuring stability in the Balkans and the European continent in general,\u201d Lavrov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There have been mounting fears in the West that Russia is using Serbia to foment tensions in the Balkans by arming its ally with warplanes and tanks while working to destabilize neighboring Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The European Union\u2019s foreign and security policies grew out of Europe\u2019s failure to respond to the wars in the Balkans that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia. The bloc remains wary that some of the ethnic cleavages that sparked the conflicts of the 1990s persist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three countries have become EU members: Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and Croatia in 2013. The rest either are candidates for membership or potential candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Serbia formally has declared its interest in joining the EU, the right-leaning leadership now running the country repeatedly has expressed anti-Western sentiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cInvesting in the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans means investing in the security and future of our Union,\u201d Juncker said ahead of the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juncker\u2019s tour of the Balkans, which starts in Macedonia on Sunday and ends with an EU summit in Bulgaria on March 1, is seen as the EU\u2019s belated attempt to counter Russia\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cParadoxically, the Russians and their policies in the Balkans have triggered alarm bells that woke up the European Union into action,\u201d Jaksic, the analyst, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>AP Writer Lorne Cook contributed from Brussels.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, Russia has worked to gain influence in Southeast Europe, using Serbia as a foothold to establish a friendly pocket on a hostile continent. The European Union finally is pushing back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":57612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2379],"class_list":["post-25993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"S43FXJU3LVESXMWBJPCXKVITDA","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2018\/02\/24\/eu-and-russia-vie-for-influence-in-volatile-balkans-region\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>EU and Russia vie for influence in volatile Balkans region - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For years, Russia has worked to gain influence in Southeast Europe, using Serbia as a foothold to establish a friendly pocket on a hostile continent. 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