AP: Putin to send a spy to Balkans, at a time when everyone looks to Ukraine

With all eyes on a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending his top security emissary to the Balkans, where Moscow has tried to preserve the impact mainly through its ally Serbia, the AP reports.

Serbia's pro-government media said on Monday that Nikolay Patosev, the powerful secretary of the Kremlin Security Council, will arrive in Belgrade in the following days for talks with Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq. Moscow has made no announcement on the trip of Patoshev.

The talks will reportedly focus on Moscow's claims that “mers from Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia are being sent from the Balkans to fight on the Ukrainian side against pro-Russian rebels amid fears of an attack by Russia.

Officials from Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia have rejected these claims, which were made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week.

“There is information that mercenaries are being recruited to Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina to take Russia out of balance and send them to several countries, including Donbasin”, Lavrov said according to Russian news agency T. The USS, referring to the rebel-controlled territory east of Ukraine. “ ”

Vucic called on Monday a meeting of Serbia's top security officials, who reportedly also discussed reports of <x0mercenars” from the Balkans going to Ukraine. Dozens of Serb fighters have fought in the past in eastern Ukraine, but on the side of the pro-Russian rebels, the AP writes.

Serbia has officially declared neutrality in the Russia-Ukrainian crash that threatens a major war in Europe. However, Serbia's state-controlled media are directly supporting Moscow in this crisis, conducting Russian propaganda without raising any questions.

While officially seeking membership in the European Union, Serbia has refused to harmonise its foreign policies with the 27-nation bloc and has instead strengthened its political, economic and military ties with Russia and China.

The increasingly autocratic Vuciq, who will face the April 3rd general elections, opened his campaign last weekend, claiming that as long as he is in power, Serbia will never be joined in NATO and will maintain its close ties with Moscow and Beijing.

Illustrating the growing ties between the two Slavic allies, Serbia and Russia have recently formed a <x0 working group”, which is tasked with fighting popular revolts known as “coloured revolution” that the country's top security officials described as Western Intrusions to destabilise the “states of the lira”.

Western officials have accused the Kremlin of impacting “malinj” in the Balkans that has helped spur a wave of nationalism threatening to break peace in Bosnia after its 1992-95 war, rekindle the armed conflict on Kosovo that broke up from Serbia in 2008 and spur political problems in NATO member states, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro.

Moscow has repeatedly denied these claims, although it states that Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo should never join NATO.

Bosnia is in the midst of a political crisis, with EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss ways to ease tensions and prevent the possible dissolution of the ethnically divided Balkan country. Bosnian Serbs, who have the support of Serbia and Russia, are threatening to separate from the federation.