Page 58 - bne_March 2021_20210303

58 Opinion
bne March 2021
BALKAN BLOG:
No “Navalnying” in the Balkans is the uncompromising message from Russia
Clare Nuttall in Glasgow
As major powers set out their positions after the chaos and confusion of the Trump era, Russia is sending out an uncompromising message to Western leaders that it will not tolerate interference in its internal affairs. Moscow was ready to humiliate the European Union’s foreign policy chief by expelling diplomats from three EU countries during his meeting with the Russian foreign minister, and Russian officials are even less inclined to mince their words when it comes to the small countries of Southeast Europe that are gradually slipping out of its sphere of influence.
“Russia just laid out its position: it made it very clear that it will no longer brook any interference in what it considers to be domestic affairs,” wrote bne IntelliNews in a recent comment. Specifically, “the Kremlin will not brook any criticism or sanctions whatsoever linked to [opposition politician Alexei] Navalny or domestic politics”.
www.bne.eu
This attitude resulted in a stern rebuke when the prime minister of Bulgaria – a Southeast European country where Russia traditionally has a strong influence, though less so under the Western-leaning Gerb government – condemned the arrest and conviction of Navalny and the violence against protesters in Russia. “Sentencing Navalny is unacceptable. He must be released as soon as possible,” Boyko Borissov wrote on Facebook.
“Russia just laid out its position:
it made it very clear that it will no longer brook any interference in what it considers to be domestic affairs”