Is there Russian influence in Kosovo, and if so, how does it appear and what can be said about it and its consequences in the state of Kosovo? What are its goals, and how much are these capacities strengthened in achieving their eventual goals? These are only some of the questions that Perspektiva Plus in Kosovo has raised specifically related to the so-called Russian influence in this country and its extent.
The young people of Kosovo admit that they do not feel that there is any Russian influence in their country whereas researchers say that it is not focused in Kosovo, that it is rather concentrated towards Kosovo.
Elis Vllasi, Ph.D., from the Kosovar Center for Security Studies, said in the report “RUSSIAN INFLUENCE IN KOSOVO UNDER THE SHADOWS OF MYTH AND REALITY” that although Russia was present in Kosovo long ago, this does not apply now and not necessarily by the will of the Russian side.
“The lack of Russian influence in Kosovo does not mean a lack of interest or ability to disturb. Russia has been present in Kosovo long before Russian military troops occupied Pristina Airport under the shadow of night in June 1999. In 1903, ‘to get real information about the suffering of the Serbian people,’ Russia appointed Gregori Stepanovic Sherbina to serve as consul in Mitrovica during the last years of the Ottoman presence in the Balkans”, said Vllasi, among other things.
One of the explanations that Vllasi gives when he describes such an influence as pale and irrelevant is that there is no Russian diaspora in Kosovo and that Kosovo is small, poor, and has no added strategic value.
“While it is understandable why Russia develops policies to control areas populated by ethnic Russians in the former Soviet republics or manipulates the Western public to advance its foreign and security policies, the importance of Kosovo to Russia’s foreign policy makes one think after all, Kosovo is small, poor, without any strategic topographical value, and without a Russian diaspora,” highlighted Vllasi.
Although the researcher Vllasi called the Russian influence in Kosovo limited, he admitted that it is harmful, and he called stopping this influence “impossible” as long as Serbia exercises control, as he called it, in the northern part of Kosovo.
“Based on interviews conducted and knowledge available through open sources, Russian influence in Kosovo is limited but harmful. In Kosovo, the Russians do not have a free hand to do as they please, given the hostile environment in which they operate, so most of their activities are directed at the global level. A complete halt to Russian influence within Kosovo may be impossible as long as Serbia exercises its sovereignty over Serb-majority areas, especially in the northern part of Kosovo. However, domestic institutions and the international community can repel and curb Russia’s hostile influence in the country by implementing some recommendations,” concluded Vllasi.
Jeta Loshaj, from the “Friedrich Ebert” foundation for Klan Kosovo, said a few days ago that Russia’s intention is to portray Kosovo as a failed project of the West and that this influence is not in Kosovo as much as it is towards Kosovo.
“If we talk about Kosovo, we cannot say that there are local actors who provide Russia with the space to exercise its influence. In our research, we have established that Russia’s approach, or Russia’s influence in Kosovo, does not exist in Kosovo, but is more towards Kosovo because Russia’s aim is in the same war with the West, trying to portray Kosovo as a failed project of the West,” said Loshaj.
From the conversation that Perspektiva Plus has had with young people in Kosovo, especially ethnic Albanians, it can be said that they see such an influence in Kosovo as non-existent, but a good part of them says that as soon as the Russian influence is mentioned as a phrase, their mind goes only to the neighboring country, Serbia, especially when talking about the Western Balkans and, if not Serbia, the Serbs who live in the north of Kosovo.
Author: Hanmie Lohaj
