TRACKING RUSSIA’S NARRATIVES IN THE WESTERN BALKAN MEDIA
TRACKING RUSSIA’S NARRATIVES IN THE WESTERN BALKAN MEDIA

Author(s): Tihomira Doncheva
Contributor(s): Jazlyn Melnychuk (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Social Sciences, Media studies, Political Theory, Communication studies, Government/Political systems, Security and defense, Political behavior, Politics and communication, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: Russia; Western Balkan media; Sputnik Srbija; NATO; False propaganda; BiH; Kosovo; Montenegro;
Summary/Abstract: ‘Russia has complete control over the media.’ Taken out of context, this quote confirms the hypothesis that this research was launched with: Russian influence is present in the Western Balkans media space. Previous research conducted by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence has identified existing weaknesses within Western Balkan (WB) societies which enable hostile influence in diverse areas including the media space. The report ‘Russia’s strategic interests and tools of influence in the Western Balkans’ examines Russia’s influence toolbox and claims that local media has been spreading pro-Russian content, and another study ‘Russia’s narratives toward the Western Balkans: Analysis of Sputnik Srbija ’identifies the content that Sputnik Srbija –the most popular Kremlin-affiliated media in the Western Balkans – fuels the online space with.

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