Garcevic Speaks at Harvard on East-West Rivalry in the Balkans
Ambassador Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, spoke as part of a panel discussion on the “East-West Rivalry in the Balkans: Russia, Southeast Europe, NATO and the EU” hosted by Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University on October 31, 2018.
Additional panelists included Nadya Boyadjieva, Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies; Peter Ruggenthaler, Deputy Head of the Boltzmann Institute for the Study of War’s Consequences in Austria; and Ekaterina Entina, Associate Professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow and Senior Researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Science.
Amb. Garcevic discussed NATO and the EU enlargement, stressing that Russia considers NATO as an alliance directed specifically against Moscow and its open-door policy is seen as “inroads into its world – the Russian world”. Though Moscow doesn’t openly oppose the EU enlargement, it believes that key European countries have instrumentalized the EU to diminish the Russian influence in Eastern Europe, according to Amb. Garcevic.
“As to the Balkans, Russia will continue to exploit loopholes that exist in most of the Balkans states; exploit the existing bilateral disputes; utilize political tensions in order to wide existing gaps, stimulate crisis, provoke conflict that would challenge the West and draw upon their resources,” Amb. Garcevic said. “Moscow’s major goals is to prevent further NATO expansion, if possible, and delay or halt EU integration.”
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Vesko Garcevic dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School.