Russia Competes for Influence in the Balkans

Weeks before a scheduled visit to Serbia, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, Bosnia-Herzegovina's majority-Serb entity. The meeting with Dodik — an ethnic Serb nationalist who for years has worked to maintain Republika Srpska's autonomy — highlights the Kremlin's efforts to preserve economic and political ties in the Balkans, as well as the ability to foment instability in a historical area of competition among regional powers.