Foreign Trade between Russia and the Balkans in the Context of Global Geostrategic Relations
/ Ivana Božić-Miljković
Russia has been historically, politically, spiritually, and culturally present at the Balkans for centuries. That is why the relations between Russia and the Balkans have a rich and long tradition. Divisions, wars, economic and political crises since the nineties of the twentieth century have defined, quite a few times, the power relations on the Balkan Peninsula in which Russia has played a prominent place and role. In the geostrategic sense, along with the changes that took place in the late eighties, Russia is increasingly realizing its interests through diverse forms of economic cooperation with most important in economic terms countries and world associations. Among Russia's most important economic partners are almost all Central and East European countries, China, USA, Japan, and European Union. In this context, Russia becomes an increasingly relevant subject of international political and economic relations. Its economic potentials (energy, raw materials, spatial aspect, home market latitude, technological potentials in some economic branches, etc.) make it a very respectable subject of global economy. The last decades of the twentieth century, the cessation of the socialist social structure, the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia and the necessity of involvement in the globalization process, have somewhat changed the course of foreign policy both of Russia and of the majority of new Balkan states. Having this in mind, the contemporary relations between the Balkan countries and Russia should be observed in the context of global geostrategic relations in the world, namely those that find their foundations in the process of globalization.