La Russia e la crisi jugoslava

Authors

  • Miograda Lekic

Keywords:

Balcani, Russia, Serbia, Crisi jugoslava, Solidarietà slavofila

Abstract

ABSTRACT - Mainly in the last two centuries, the foreign relations and politics of Russia have been characterized by a specific interest towards the Balkan region. Since the beginning of the XIX century, the Russian efforts were aimed to make a strong influence in the region, delimiting on one hand those played by the Great Powers, in primis the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, and consolidating on the other hand the South-Western borders of the Russian Empire. More recently, in the period 1991-1995, the Russian Federation started supporting the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia and the maintenance of the internal and external borders of the former Federation, later on officially recognizing the independence of the former Yugoslav Republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In spite of the secular relations between Russia and Serbia and Montenegro, based primarily on the common orthodox history, culture and faith, the Russian Federation excluded the possibility that the relations with the Western Countries would have been negatively affected by the Balkan crisis. As a consequence, the Russian Federation did not play a central role in the peace process culminated with the Dayton Accords reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, in November 1995 between the Presidents Slobodan Milosˇevic´, Alija Izetbegovic´ and Franjo Tud-man. Later on, and in particular with the advent of Vladimir Putin as President of the Russian Federation, Moscow became much more involved to solve the last European geopolitical rebus, i.e. the international status of Kosovo. Already in March 1999 the Russian delegation refused the signing of the Rambouillet Accords proposed by the Albanian, American and British delegations to end the inter-ethnic conflict in Kosovo, considering the agreement too much in favor of the Albanian ethnic population. Now, the Russian Federation is officially backing the Serbian position, in open contrast with the position of the USA and that of the EU. There’s no doubt that the solution of the Kosovo question, in respect or not of the international law, will determine the Russian politics towards the still open ethnic and territorial questions inside the borders of the former Soviet Union, i.e. Abkhazia and South Ossetia located within the internationally recognized borders of Georgia, Transnistria, the breakaway Republic within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova, and the de facto independent Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh located in the South Caucasus, officially part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. One more time, accordingly to a historical tradition, the Russian commitment in the Balkan questions will have a direct influence on Europe’s next future and on international stability. RÉSUMÉ - Après une brève récapitulation de la politique menée par la Russie dans la région des Balkans au cours des deux derniers siècles, inspirée par le souci de contrecarrer l’Empire d’Autriche-Hongrie et l’Empire Ottoman et de mieux garantir ses frontières sud-occidentales, l’Auteur analyse l’évolution de la conduite du gouvernement de Moscou face à la crise Yougoslave. Si dans une première phase (1991-1995), coïncidente avec la période d’extrème faiblesse internationale de la Russie, le gouvernement de Moscou se plia aux initiatives occidentales, par la suite un redressement de la position russe s’ensuivit (1995-1999), mais les pressions de la Duma, des milieux militaires et de l’opinion publique en faveur des «frères slaves orthodoxes» ne réussirent pas à prévaloir contre le pragmatisme politique de Eltsin. Ce fut seulement après le début de l’ère Putin qu’on assista à un réveil progressif de l’«ours russe». Aujourd’ hui la Russie appuie ouvertement les revendications serbes sur le Kosovo, soit à fin que les principes du droit International soient respectés, soit pour éviter que l’esprit d’indépendance puisse l’emporter même ailleurs. Encore une fois les événements, qui se déroulent dans la région des Balkans et qui touchent aux intérêts de la Russie, risquent d’influencer l’histoire de l’Europe et les équilibres internationaux.

Published

07-11-2008

How to Cite

Lekic, M. (2008). La Russia e la crisi jugoslava. Rivista Di Studi Politici Internazionali, 74(4), 546–560. Retrieved from https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa00/index.php/studi_politici_internazionali/article/view/67

Issue

Section

Articoli