By Dželal Hodžić
The fall of Aleksandar Vučić’s authoritarian regime is good news for the region. It is the second piece of excellent news for the Western Balkans, following the fall of Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian regime. In a short period of time, the Kremlin has lost two of its key players. Orbán was Russia’s proxy in the European Union, while Vučić was Russia’s proxy in the Western Balkans. There are still leaders in the Western Balkans who admire dictator Vladimir Putin and his totalitarian ideology, but they have now lost their regional pillars of support.
This opens up an opportunity to finally confront Russian influence in the Western Balkans in a serious and determined manner. For decades, that influence has undermined democratic values and fostered anti-Western sentiment. In other words, it is time for a strong wind from the West to sweep away Putin’s dark clouds over the Western Balkans.
Over the past few decades, a series of misguided decisions and policies originating from various Western capitals have pushed democratic and pro-Western forces across the Western Balkans onto the defensive, while ultra-populist, pro-Russian, and anti-democratic forces have aggressively expanded their influence. I am prepared to write about this subject extensively and in greater detail on another occasion. For now, I will mention just a few examples: support for the Open Balkan initiative, the failure to open EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia in a timely manner, and political bargaining with figures such as Milorad Dodik and Aleksandar Vučić, who offered a false sense of security at the expense of democratic values. The result was that Serbia’s malign influence, acting as a Kremlin proxy, succeeded in obstructing the progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Kosovo toward their Euro-Atlantic future.
I would also argue that if Croatia blocks Montenegro’s path toward EU membership, it will be a serious setback and create an opportunity for pro-Russian forces in the region to consolidate their positions following the fall of the authoritarian regimes of Orbán and Vučić. This would be similar to how Dodik succeeded in blocking Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to NATO by insisting on undemocratic models and practices, together with his political counterpart Dragan Čović, who represents the political interests of the Croat community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, exploiting the mechanisms of obstruction stemming from the Dayton Peace Agreement.
If Montenegro fails to join the EU, pro-Russian forces in the country will grow stronger, capitalizing on the resulting disappointment. This has already happened twice in North Macedonia: first, when the country failed to join NATO in 2008, and again when its pro-European government did not receive the opportunity to begin EU accession negotiations in a timely manner, despite changing the country’s name and implementing reforms. Today, North Macedonia has a government pursuing an isolationist policy in which the European Union and the democratic world are portrayed as enemies of the country.
It is deeply depressing to realize that all of this is happening at the end of 2026. In the aftermath of the wars and conflicts in the Western Balkans, during the late 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium, there was far greater optimism, even enthusiasm, about the prospect of the entire Western Balkan region rapidly integrating into NATO and the European Union and embracing genuine democratic values.
What is most disappointing is that not even Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was enough to encourage the West to confront Putinist structures in the Western Balkans, in the very heart of Europe, boldly and decisively. Just imagine what might have happened in the Western Balkans if Russia had succeeded in achieving its objectives in Ukraine. Stabilocracy never delivers peace, even in the medium term, much less opportunities for democratic and economic development. That is why it is time to identify and map the democratic forces across the region and abandon policies that create space for malign Russian and Chinese influence.
It will also be necessary to identify the centers across the region from which pro-Russian and anti-Western propaganda has been disseminated — a task that is relatively straightforward and, in fact, largely completed. The process must begin with a serious fight against corruption, which would expose the malign influence of an organized and coordinated system involving certain politicians and their political parties, their media outlets and propagandists, their banks and oligarchic networks used for money laundering, as well as other centers of power and influence that have served Moscow’s interests in our region. It is time to confront, boldly and decisively, those who are undermining the region’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic future.
The region needs fresh winds of change that will restore optimism and create a new democratic atmosphere. Every country needs to strengthen the rule of law. It is time to help Serbia’s democratic public, which has managed to bring about a political turning point under extremely difficult circumstances, restore democracy as a fundamental value. It is time to help North Macedonia return to its European path. It is time to help Bosnia and Herzegovina complete its accession to NATO and regain momentum on its path toward the EU. It is time to help Kosovo accelerate its progress toward both NATO and EU membership. The prerequisite for all of this is that citizens across the region must see that democratic values can prevail over corruption, impunity, and isolationist policies.
I know that the democratic world is focused on the major priority of helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression and Putin’s totalitarian system. And rightly so. Nevertheless, the democratic world must also provide meaningful support to the countries of the Western Balkans in defeating the well-organized local anti-democratic and pro-Russian forces. A major opportunity has now emerged, with the Kremlin having lost its two regional pillars in Budapest and Belgrade.
Dželal Hodžić is a politician and columnist from North Macedonia and president of SDA Macedonia. His career has been marked by engagement in civil society, the media, and state institutions.
Originally published by CIVIL MEDIA.