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his country's case for EU and Nato membership. Kurti told AFP that Russian President Vladimir Putin is unpredictable and "will use the factors and actors he controls also in the Western Balkans”. Speaking to The Independent, Kurti argued that the Western Balkans is in “even greater danger than the Baltic countries and Moldova”.
Kosovo has already established a security fund to raise money for the Kosovan army amid the new reality following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kurti announced on March 3.
Serbia
Even before the invasion, there were warnings that Serbia’s April 3 election day – when both President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) are seeking re-election – will be a turbulent one.
After years in power, the party is deeply entrenched in Serbia and has been criticised for eroding democracy. Mass protests over environmental issues in the autumn of 2020 were followed
by threats to disrupt the election if
the government doesn’t entirely ban lithium mining in the country. In recent years, elections have been followed by protests, some of them turning violent, as opposition supporters no longer
see a way of achieving a change of government via the ballot boxes.
Things have changed radically since the invasion, which put Vucic, who
has sought to balance Serbia’s quest for EU accession with good relations with fellow big powers Russia, China and the US, in an impossible position.
Now he has condemned the invasion but declined to join sanctions on Russia – an attempt at a solution that didn't please either EU leaders, who say he should commit to sanctions, or the large pro-Russian segment of the population.
While the Serbian government has sought to maintain its balanced position, many media outlets in Serbia take
a strongly pro-Russian line, which has coloured popular sentiment on the
war and the government’s response. On March 4, several thousand people joined a far-right, pro-Russian march in Belgrade.
Montenegro
Parliament speaker Strahinja Bulajic,
a member of the pro-Russia Democratic front, has blocked the formation of
a new government by refusing to call
a parliamentary session to vote on the proposed cabinet. His comments to local media outlets indicate he plans to keep the country in political limbo for months
President Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) from power after the October 2016 general election. After the change of government in Montenegro in 2020, the court’s
ruling was overturned and a review was ordered, and all those sentenced were released.
Albania
There has been a series of protests and road blockades in Albania over rising food and fuel prices, as rapid inf lation in autumn 2021
“On March 16, Russia’s ambassador to Bosnia, Igor Kalabukhov, threatened to the country, making it clear that Moscow won’t tolerate Bosnia joining Nato"
by continually postponing the session. Bulajic has been linked to a Russian diplomat that the foreign ministry recent declared persona non grata.
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine
in February, thousands of supporters
of the Democratic Front blocked 17 key roads across Montenegro. The blockades were in protest over a domestic issue: the planned formation of a minority government that would have excluded the party from power. However, some protesters carried flags of the self- proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk within Ukraine, recognised by Russia
as independent, and hailed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As well as the mass blockades organised by the Democratic Front, on February 28 dozens of Montenegrins gathered in
the town of Niksic to demonstrate in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine February 28. The gathering
was not officially supported by any political party.
Some of the Democratic Front’s leaders were sentenced for plotting a coup back in 2016, along with Russian intelligence officers and Serbians, aimed at ousting
was exacerbated by the spikes in international commodity prices since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although the numbers are not huge, there are signs of discontent across the country, and among a variety
of different groups, from students to farmers.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has slammed the protests as “shameful” and pointed out that Albania is the only Nato country where people are protesting over pice rises. He has also called them an attempt to destabilise the country. Nonetheless, he was quick to step in to offer a package of support for pensioners and other low-income households, followed
by additional measures for farmers. Government officials, who usually have their car fuel expenses paid, will receive only 50% of the cost during the crisis, Rama announced.
His critics put the high prices down to corruption as well as the international factors cited by Rama, and say the government should have tackled the fuel market before the current crisis; they also criticise the heavy-handed policing at the protests, which included arrests of journalists.
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