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<\/a><\/p>\nAn Op-Ed by Amb.\u00a0<\/span>Vesko Garcevic<\/a>, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Frederick S.Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was recently referenced in a report on recent\u00a0Russian military exercises,\u00a0one of the country’s biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War.<\/span><\/p>\n Garcevic’s Op-Ed, entitled\u00a0\u201c<\/span>Russia\u2019s Big Games Strike Echoes in the Balkans,<\/a>\u201d was originally published on September 14, 2017 in\u00a0<\/span>Balkan Insight<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The Op-Ed was referenced in a September 26, 2017 article in\u00a0Deference Report<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>entitled “The Balkan Echo of Russian Military Exercises.<\/a>”<\/p>\n From the text of the article:<\/p>\n Former Ambassador of Montenegro to NATO, Professor of Practical Diplomacy and International Relations of Boston University\u00a0<\/span>Vesko Garcevic\u00a0<\/span>believes that through these exercises Russia tried to show the West that it has become stronger and more powerful and that it plans to participate in global issues.<\/p>\n \u201cThe exercises were held shortly after the US approved new sanctions against Moscow, and therefore their goal was, among other things, to demonstrate that the EU and the US sanctions don\u2019t work and have not crumbled Moscow\u2019s military potency,\u201d says Garcevic.<\/p>\n According to the expert, the exercises became a signal for the Balkan countries.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter whether it is true or not, the notion of an invincible, mighty, technically and militarily superior Russia traditionally resonates well in ears of many people and politicians in this part of Europe. Thanks to traditionally close historical, religious and cultural ties, which can be described as \u201cPan-Slavism\u201d or \u201cSlavic brotherhood\u201d, Moscow has successfully been able to maintain its solid position in the region. Russia will continue to exploit loopholes and democratic deficiency that exist in most of the Balkans states in an effort to solidify its gains in the Balkans\u201d says Vesko Garcevic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n