Russia in the Balkans Archives

A documentary recently aired by Russian television network RT argues the existence of a “Bosnian caliphate” and radicalization of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while dismissing the judicial verdicts on the Sarajevo siege and Srebrenica genocide. At a time when Russia is actively waging war on Ukraine, what is the significance behind an international television station financed by the Russian state echoing the long-standing claims of Milorad Dodik and his ideologues?

The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved negotiations to build two new gas pipeline links with Serbia and Croatia, but a decision on fuel import controls that is being sought by Russia was removed from their agenda.

Representatives of a Russian organisation founded by Vladimir Putin and under EU sanctions for financing the war against Ukraine attended a ceremony in Visegrad to honour Russian fighters killed in the Bosnian war.

Bosnia-Herzegovina looks set to impose fuel import controls which Russia insists on before it will let the country join the World Trade Organization, Detektor has learnt. Fuel prices may rise as a result.

The Ukrainian government wants sanctions placed on Igor Chasnyk, a board member for a major Russian gas firm until recently owned by an oligarch friend of President Vladimir Putin, but he has become one of the several dozen Russians who have registered new businesses in Sarajevo since the start of the war.

Slovenian media reports say two citizens of South American nationality have been arrested and charged with spying for Russia.

One December Sunday, dozens of darkly dressed Serbian far-rightists answered a rallying call to head to Kosovo and show support for Serbs there, who had barricaded roads in the latest protest against the authorities in Pristina.

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A pro-Moscow Serbian sniper posted a video of other Serbian-speaking fighters on YouTube which he said was filmed at a training camp in Russia where they were getting ready to join the war against Ukraine.

When Russia cut the flow of gas for a few days in 2009 due to a dispute with Ukraine, tens of thousands of households in Bosnia and Herzegovina were left without heating during that cold winter. Thirteen years later, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price of gas has gone up and people using gas for heating are worried if there will even be enough of it. While European Union countries have stored enough gas for the upcoming winter, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still exclusively dependent on gas deliveries from Russia. In this programme, we’ll be analysing what the authorities have failed to do, but also what can still be done in order for Bosnia to end the Russian monopoly over its gas imports.