{"id":12714,"date":"2025-04-28T14:15:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T12:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/?p=12714"},"modified":"2025-04-28T14:31:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T12:31:19","slug":"patriarku-serb-therret-per-nje-serbi-te-madhe-me-bekimin-e-putinit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/disinfo\/patriarku-serb-therret-per-nje-serbi-te-madhe-me-bekimin-e-putinit\/","title":{"rendered":"The Serbian Patriarch Calls for a \u201cGreater Serbia\u201d with Putin\u2019s Blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, <\/span>voiced<\/span><\/a> politically charged and destabilizing rhetoric concerning the Western Balkans region during his visit to Moscow on April 23, 2025.<\/p>\n

In addition to using the historically contested term for Kosovo\u2014\"Kosovo and M\" which immediately provoked reactions in Pristina, the Serbian patriarch proposed a geopolitical repositioning of Serbia alongside Russia. This repositioning included Kosovo, Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, forming a joint entity around the concept of the \"Serbian World,\" which, according to him, is close to the \"Russian World.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cOur position regarding Kosovo, Republika Srpska and Montenegro, I believe and feel that it also depends on the position of the Russian state, the Russian Federation on a global level. My wish, and the wish of the majority in our Church, is that in the future, if there is a new geopolitical regrouping, we will be close to that Russian environment,\u201d said Porfirije. Irinej also joined the <\/span>conversation<\/span><\/a> , adding \"...in the <\/span>Russian World,\"<\/span><\/i> which Porfirije confirmed.<\/p>\n

According to the <\/span>transcript of the meeting,<\/span><\/a> he described these territories as integral parts of Serbian identity that must be reunited in the name of \u201cspiritual and national unity.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his conversation with President Putin, Porfirije who had previously visited Kosovo, not only <\/span>sought<\/span><\/a> support for Serbia but also advanced a clear revisionist and expansionist agenda reminiscent of the rhetoric of the 1990s.<\/p>\n

This was welcomed by President Putin, who emphasized that Russia has always supported Serbia\u2019s stance on Kosovo, describing the ties with the Serbian Orthodox Church as a strong spiritual and historical bridge between the two nations. <\/span>Putin expressed gratitude to Porfirije<\/span><\/a> for his role in defending traditional values.<\/p>\n

This proposal reflects Russia\u2019s long-standing strategy<\/span><\/a> in the Balkans, as noted in a 2023 report by the Council on Foreign Relations, in which Moscow supports Slavic and Orthodox allies such as Serbia to challenge the EU and NATO. Putin seeks to implement this by exploiting regional instability, fueling false narratives about Kosovo\u2019s independence, and taking advantage of the fragile situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n

Reactions in Kosovo\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Politicians, civil society organizations, and political analysts in Kosovo considered the Patriarch\u2019s statements as an attempt to revive Belgrade\u2019s old colonialist narratives. According to <\/span>reports<\/span><\/a> from Kosovo, which received wide media coverage, this rhetoric undermines efforts for dialogue and peace in the region and comes at a time of heightened tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, further contributing to polarization.<\/p>\n

Kosovo\u2019s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, responded to the statements in a post on the <\/span>X platform <\/span><\/a>(formerly known as Twitter), calling them dangerous attempts to use religion in service of nationalist and geopolitical projects.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cThis is not religious diplomacy, it's a strategic partnership of authoritarian regimes, placing the region at serious risk. Kosova, however, stands firm in its democratic principles and aspirations and unequivocally rejects revisionist agendas driven by authoritarian powers,\u201d Kurti <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Possible Consequences\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The Serbian Patriarch\u2019s meeting with Putin and the support he received from the Russian leader reaffirm the close ties between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin, positioning the Church as a political actor with hegemonic and anti-Western aspirations. At the same time, the meeting highlights the challenges Kosovo continues to face on the international stage regarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Such statements also undermine efforts toward reconciliation and trust-building in the region, which remain fragile especially when influential religious and political actors reinforce narratives that deny the political and legal realities of Kosovo and other states in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

The narrative of the <\/span>\u201cSerbian World\u201d,<\/span><\/a> is also tied to the policies of the former Slobodan Milosevic regime and the bloody wars of the 1990s, a discourse that runs counter to any notion of regional reconciliation.<\/p>\n

At a time when the Balkans needs peace, cooperation, and European integration, such statements from religious and political leaders risk pushing the Western Balkans into a new spiral of conflict and isolation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The region requires a coordinated political and diplomatic response, with the support of Western democracies, to safeguard the sovereignty of Balkan states from dangerous ideologies that use religion as a tool for political domination.<\/span><\/p>\n

*This article is published as part of the Western Balkans Regional Initiative against disinformation.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub: exposing malign influences through watchdog journalism.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patriarku i Kish\u00ebs Ortodokse Serbe, Porfirije, n\u00eb takim me presidentin e Rusis\u00eb Vladimir Putin, artikuloi retorik\u00eb politike dhe destabilizuese p\u00ebr rajonin e Ballkanit Per\u00ebndimor, gjat\u00eb vizit\u00ebs n\u00eb Mosk\u00eb m\u00eb 23 prill 2025.\u00a0 P\u00ebrve\u00e7 p\u00ebrdorimit t\u00eb termit historikisht t\u00eb kontestuar p\u00ebr Kosov\u00ebn- \u201cKosova dhe M\u201d q\u00eb shkaktoi menj\u00ebher\u00eb reagime n\u00eb Prishtin\u00eb patriarku serb propozoi nj\u00eb ripozicionim […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":12716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1241,363],"tags":[988,1043,1069,972,637,1117,971],"ppma_author":[28],"class_list":["post-12714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-debunking","category-disinfo","tag-ballkani-perendimor","tag-be","tag-disinfo","tag-kosove","tag-nato","tag-rusi","tag-serbi"],"authors":[{"term_id":28,"user_id":18,"is_guest":0,"slug":"disinfo","display_name":"Disinfo","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Sbunker_FAKE_NEWS_001-min1647858578.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Sbunker_FAKE_NEWS_001-min1647858578.jpg"},"user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"Disinfo","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12714"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12719,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12714\/revisions\/12719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12714"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=12714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}