"Russia is exerting influence in Western Balkans"

"The weakening and slowing down of the EU enlargement process in the Western Balkans opens up space for countries like Russia, and not only for them, but in different ways for both China and Turkey, and even for the Arab Emirates - the space for certain political and economic, and I would say religious activities," Vejvoda said.

The former vice president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, currently heading the "Future Europe" program at the Institute for Social Sciences in Vienna, said that all these actors, "the so-called third actors in the region, know where the region of the Western Balkans belongs - it is the last unintegrated part of the core of European geography."

"And for that reason it would be good to step up the enlargement and association activities of these countries, open (EU membership) negotiating chapters more quickly, and involve states, even before membership, in the various activities of the European Union, (more) than has been the case so far. With that (EU) can repel the role, for example, of Russia," he told Voice of America in Serbian.

Vejvoda emphasizes that Russia has an influence in European countries through its energy policy. "The fact is that Europe depends on one third of its energy resources on Russia, and we in Serbia are one hundred percent dependent on Russian gas," Vejvoda stressed.

Referring to political differences between Serbia and Montenegro, which some experts claim are inspired by Russia, and above all, on the latest incident in connection with marking of the joining of Montenegro and Serbia in 1918, Vejvoda said that this was "transient, because common interests are what dominates."

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