15. may 2025. / Corvinus University of Budapest / C.102.

The 15 May IR TALKS panel, consisting of Vladimir Đorđević (Department of Security Studies, Police Academy of the Czech Republic, Prague), Péter Marton (Department of International Relations, Corvinus University of Budapest), and Vassilis Petsinis (Department of International Relations, Corvinus University of Budapest) as the moderator, covered the systematization of Russia’s ‘hybrid’ engagement across Southeastern Europe. Of particular interest, in light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, was Russia’s ‘hybrid’ campaigns within the post-Yugoslav space (Serbia and Montenegro).

Our guest speaker, Vladimir Đorđević, delivered a thorough and well-substantiated account of how and why Russia’s ‘hybrid’ projects inside these two contexts are multifaceted and involve the participation of domestic actors as diverse as the local media-sphere and the clergy. In particular, our guest speaker enlightened the audience about: How, and to what extent, disinformation campaigns, emanating from Russia, become mainstreamed, via the local media, in Serbia and Montenegro; the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church as part of this process; how Russia’s ‘hybrid’ projects may often combine with nationalism and other identity politics in these two societies. Péter Marton provided some additional insights on the enactment of disinformation campaigns in Hungary, whereas Vassilis Petsinis briefly reflected on the pro-Russian stances among far-right circles in other parts of Central and Southeastern Europe (e.g. Bulgaria and Slovakia).

The questions and comments from the audience touched upon a broad range of issues such as how systematic Russia’s ‘hybrid’ engagement in Southeastern Europe really is; the specificities and qualitative differences of these ‘hybrid’ activities in the societies of Serbia and Montenegro respectively; and what commonalities, if any, can be detected with, say, disinformation campaigns in other parts of the globe.

IR TALKS is a series of guest and roundtable talks organised by the Department of International Relations at Corvinus University to make sense of the world we live in at a time of turbulent international politics.