"Russia is exerting influence in Western Balkans"

Russia in trying in different places, not only in the Balkans but also in Europe, to show the weakness and incompetence, primarily of the EU, says Ivan Vejvoda.

Izvor: Tanjug

Wednesday, 12.12.2018.

12:58

(Getty Images, file, illustration)

"Russia is exerting influence in Western Balkans"

The former vice president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, currently heading the "Future Europe" program at the Institute for Social Sciences in Vienna, said that all these actors, "the so-called third actors in the region, know where the region of the Western Balkans belongs - it is the last unintegrated part of the core of European geography."

"And for that reason it would be good to step up the enlargement and association activities of these countries, open (EU membership) negotiating chapters more quickly, and involve states, even before membership, in the various activities of the European Union, (more) than has been the case so far. With that (EU) can repel the role, for example, of Russia," he told Voice of America in Serbian.

Vejvoda emphasizes that Russia has an influence in European countries through its energy policy. "The fact is that Europe depends on one third of its energy resources on Russia, and we in Serbia are one hundred percent dependent on Russian gas," Vejvoda stressed.

Referring to political differences between Serbia and Montenegro, which some experts claim are inspired by Russia, and above all, on the latest incident in connection with marking of the joining of Montenegro and Serbia in 1918, Vejvoda said that this was "transient, because common interests are what dominates."

"Different people see in various ways the unification of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. I think it is best to leave it to historians to have these discussions, as in all such cases, rather than at the political level," he said.

Vejvoda also believes that Montenegro's recent admission to NATO contributes to the balance and security of the region.

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