RUSSIAN POLICY IN THE BALKANS: CURRENT SITUATION AND PERSPECTIVES

The article discusses the current situation and prospects of Russian policy in the Balkans. Officially, today, the Balkans are not assigned to the priorities of the Russian foreign policy, but there is one of the lines of the "Cool War" against the West. It is Russia's desire to oppose the expansion of NATO and the EU, to create an infrastructure for the transportation of energy resources; it is also the emergence of sanctions and counter-sanctions. The purpose of this article is to characterize the foreign policy of the Russian Federation in the Balkans in the context of the current confrontation between Russia and the West. The authors try to identify possible scenarios for further development of international relations in the region. The term "Cool War" is used as the most accurate for characterizing the confrontation between Russia and the West, because - the authors believe - it differs from the "Cold War" in content, directions and its severity, although it is waged with the same methods and tools. The analysis of the Russian foreign policy in the Balkans and the method of constructing scenarios are used in the article as a research methodology. In this paper, five groups of states are distinguished in the Balkans according to their relations with Russia. Also it is assumed that three scenarios are possible in the future: weakening of Russia's position, its maintaining at the current level, and its strengthening. This will largely depend on the confrontation degree and Russia's activity, especially in the economic and humanitarian spheres.