Russian influence in Serbia: From fostering cultural ties to open propaganda

From a historical point of view, the relationship between Russia and Serbia is very complex. The friendship of these two countries rests on history, common faith and the fact that both belong to the same ethno-linguistic community. However, despite this seemingly solid mutual relationship, the Russian regime in the past twenty years has never missed an opportunity to use Serbia as a platform for its own propaganda, which it uses exclusively to protect its own interests.

This article is largely concerned with Russian propaganda agents, the methods they use and the goals they seek to achieve. The data stated in it were collected from the Internet, from emigrant communities that maintain contact through social networks, and from the pages of Russian organizations that operate under the guise of cultural and educational missions. One of those organizations is the Russian House.

The Russian Home in Belgrade is the official representative office of Rosotrudnichestva, the agency for cooperation with the diaspora, which is a federal body responsible for providing public services and managing state property, all with the aim of creating and improving international relations of the Russian Federation. In other words, it is a state organization under the control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Its goals are to provide support to compatriots abroad and international humanitarian cooperation, with the fact that since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it has been exposed to international sanctions from the European Union, the USA and other countries.

Rosotrudnichestvo is an instrument of the Russian so-called soft power, that is, the kind of political power that assumes the ability to achieve results based on voluntary participation and feelings of sympathy and attraction. However, this is a dictionary definition, while "soft power" in the hands of Russia is in reality established as a kind of "positive propaganda", that is, the use of cultural and historical stereotypes in order to strengthen political influence.

 

Examples of propaganda

 

Rosotrudnichestvo states its goals as providing support and promoting the Russian language in the world, popularizing Russian science, culture and education abroad, working with compatriots, as well as carrying out activities in the field of promoting international development and public diplomacy.

 

The Internet presentation of this organization and its accounts on social networks seem at first glance as if it were any ordinary cultural center. But it's really only at first glance. A closer look at the Russian House account and website reveals posts related to the war in Ukraine - which in Russia is called a 'special military operation' - denying even the fact that there is a war at all. On them you can also find many publications dedicated to the war in Yugoslavia from the nineties, about the bombing of Belgrade, as well as numerous announcements and events of a religious nature, but related exclusively to Orthodoxy. Faith in Russia has long been used for propaganda purposes, both inside the country itself and outside it. Let's pay a little more attention to the announcements of the Russian House on these topics.

Let's turn our attention to e.g. to the first militaristic manifestation of the Russian House that is encountered during the search. It is dedicated to the war in Ukraine and it is a discussion organized on that topic. Already in the text of the announcement, Donbas is rhetorically separated from Ukraine, which indicates that the organizers and speakers do not consider this region a part of that country, even though it is. Also, the word "war" in the text was replaced by the wording "special military operation", which is the official name used in Russia when talking about the military invasion of Ukraine. Namely, in Russia, it is forbidden by law to call that war a war. This is considered a discredit to the Russian army and is punishable by an administrative fine of 30,000 rubles (about 300 euros).

Speaker Igor Damjanović, a Serbian war correspondent, spent some time in the occupied territories of Ukraine and in the border areas on the Russian side. You can find out about who Damjanović is and what his role is through a search on Google, where the first result of the search is the bilingual Russian-Serbian publication "Balkanist", in which he appears as the author of 46 articles in Russian and 42 in Serbian. The topics he deals with in his texts are mainly related to Montenegro.

For example, the article dated June 30, 2021 entitled "Why Montenegro still pursues a hostile policy towards Russia and Serbia" contains the argument that the Montenegrin parliament admitted that genocide was committed in Srebrenica, and the author accuses the Government of Montenegro and for the attempt to "liquidate the Republic of Srpska". In addition, he also uses Russian propaganda narratives regarding Ukraine, e.g. by using the word "Maidan". Ten years have passed since Euromaidan in Ukraine, but Russian propaganda still uses that word as if it were some kind of horrible phenomenon. During ten years of propaganda, Russia made it a term that ordinary Russian citizens associate with the bloody anti-Russian revolution.

Although the events in Kyiv in 2014 were not of an anti-Russian nature, they did lead to a change in the pro-Russian or pro-Putin president there. The use of this term in the official media now represents a clear red flag that shows that it is anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western propaganda. Thanks to the work of propagandists, Russian readers and viewers now associate the Maidan with a terrible, bloody revolution that the Russian authorities are tasked with preventing by all means. It is obvious that Damjanović, using the word Maidan in connection with the protests in Montenegro, is referring to that very Russian narrative.

 

Damjanović actively uses other Russian propaganda narratives. For example, in his articles he regularly accuses Ukraine of Nazism, without providing any evidence for this but simply repeating the instructions of the Kremlin. In addition, Igor is the coordinator of the Montenegrin movement "No to war - no to NATO", and openly supports the war being waged in Ukraine. In February 2023, in Montenegro, he organized a rally in support of the military invasion of Ukraine, as well as the panel "War between Russia and Ukraine through the eyes of a war correspondent". It is obvious that the reporter in question is Damjanović himself.

It is interesting that the war reporter sometimes calls the war a war, and sometimes follows the rules of the new Russian language and refers to it as a "special military operation". As already mentioned, such "mistakes" could cost him up to 300 euros in Russia. Rosotrudnichestvo, meanwhile, awards Igor the Medal of Honor for his contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation. What they say, tell me who your friends are...

Even the publication itself raises a number of questions. "Balkanist" does not only deal with what is happening in Serbia, but also follows events in other Balkan countries, especially the former Yugoslav republics. The editor-in-chief of the site is Oleg Bondarenko, who, based on the information that can be found on his website, personally participated in the annexation of Crimea and instigated the military conflict in Donbass.

 

The role of the Russian House

In the materials published in "Balkanist", one can easily find justification for the genocide of Bosnian Muslims during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, fueling the conflict and much more. Bondarenko published articles on his website in which he denied the fact that genocide was committed against Bosnian Muslims, while calling Ratko Mladić a hero. The fueling of the conflict between Mladić's supporters and opponents can also be noticed in "Balkanist", in which the opponents of this war criminal are called "vandals" and "pro-Western liberals". There is no doubt about the determination of this publication and its editors.

"Balkanist" does not ignore the topic of NATO either, doing its best to remind Serbs of the bombing, thereby putting pressure on the sore points of society. However, one cannot escape the fact that Russia practically did not even participate in that conflict, although Yugoslavia asked to be accepted into the alliance of Russia and Belarus. Namely, despite Russia's real non-involvement in that military conflict, the editors of "Balkanista" use the tragic epoch in the history of modern Serbia to play with the feelings of people in whose hearts the memories of the war are still fresh, bringing back memories of the conflict between Serbia and NATO with which the Russian side had absolutely nothing to do with.

"Balkanist" does not forget the relationship between Serbia and the European Union. Open hostility towards European unification is visible in the titles of the publication in Serbian and Russian. The title of the article from November 12, 2020 suggests that the European Union is blackmailing Serbia because of its relations with Russia. Even the accusation of a criminal offense can be considered as inciting hatred, but the author of the article goes further and quotes the statement of the member of the European Parliament from Germany that Serbia has every right to choose with whom it will negotiate its foreign policy - with the European Union or Russia , noting that Serbia is committed to joining the EU. The text itself does not mention blackmail, but a quote from some Serbian media that the European Union is actually a nightmare, not a dream. There is no link to the original source, nor is the name of the author of the statement mentioned. Therefore, Europe is a nightmare, probably only for the editors of "Balkanista".

Is it possible to prove that the Russian House, within the framework of the state program controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and fully financed from the Russian budget, leads an aggressive information policy in Serbia and interferes in the internal affairs of the state? I think it is possible.

With the help of the Russian House, Russian propagandists openly organize anti-American and anti-European manifestations where they openly express their aggressive attitude towards NATO and the European Union, encourage Serbs not to cooperate with others, fuel their memories of past conflicts and ask them to refuse cooperation in the future . Attention is also drawn to pro-Kremlin organizations that promote this propaganda and homophobic agenda, whose function is destructive and which pushes the Serbian people from the path of progress to the path that is opposite to the democratic one - the one that Russia has been following in recent years.