The Strategic Role of External Actors in the Western Balkans

A common study of the Martens Centre and the Austrian People´s Party, with the assistance of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy was presented on March 11 during an online conference titled “The Strategic Role of External Actors in the Western Balkans”. The conference as well as the study examined the influence of the EU, the USA, Russia, China, and Turkey on six Western Balkan states. (Professor and Martens Centre Research Associate) Nikolaos Tzifakis underlined the difference in foreign-aid donations and public perception: “EU provided 60% of all COVID-19 related help to the Western Balkans, yet according to a recent study, most of Serbs think inaccurately that Russia was the major donor”.