The Balkans hold great military and commercial significance due to their transit corridors linking the Black Sea, the Adriatic, and the Mediterranean, as well as their natural environment and underground resources. Today, while whispers about a third world war echo across Europe and confrontations in the Middle East threaten to spread into the Mediterranean, the Balkans remains at the heart of multi-layered conflicts. The region is reshaped by the moves of global powers, encompassing intelligence warfare, demographic engineering, and economic competition, Daily Sabah wrote.
Tirana Draws Foreign Interest
Recent mass protests that broke out in Albania clearly showed how global capital interweaves with geopolitical fears. Sazan Island, located in western Albania, is at the center of this unrest. The Government of Prime Minister Edi Rama adopted legal amendments to pave the way for a massive luxury tourism project managed by Affinity Partners, an investment company owned by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
However, the public reaction is not limited only to environmental concerns. This project has raised fears of a “permanent occupation” in a region sensitive to foreign interventions, the Turkish media wrote. This concern is further fueled by claims that Israeli investors are purchasing land in the Balkans through citizenship programs.
Statements by the Academician Fredinant Hasmuça clearly reveal the grounds for these concerns. Emphasizing the increase of flights between Tel-Aviv and Tirana to two round-trips per day as a key indicator of this economic momentum, Hasmuça said that 68 companies linked to Israel, 54 of which are founded by Israelis directly, and 14 as joint investments with Albanian partners, started business operations in the sectors of tourism, real estate, energy, and services in the country during the post-pandemic period.
Path to Europe
Emphasizing that Israeli investors are hiding their real estate transactions and obtaining land through “covert” methods using citizenships of different European countries, such as Bulgaria or Romania, or directly obtaining Albanian citizenship, Hasmuça is pointing out the fact that tourist projects concentrated especially alongside the southern coast of the country, where Kushner is also a partner, carry a key geopolitical weight, not only economic value.
Furthermore, stating that these investments are not only a path towards Europe, the Adriatic, and the Mediterranean, but are located in immediate proximity to strategic military zones, such as the undersea Pashaliman base in Albania, where the Turkish navy is present, the academician claims that far wider global geopolitical calculations are hidden behind these processes under the guise of tourism.
This situation followed immediately after the deep domestic stratification caused by Rama’s open diplomatic support to Israeli policy during his visit to the Knesset in January, 2026. Rama strongly demonstrated this geopolitical disagreement during his address in Knesset, saying: “Until Hamas is completely eradicated, 2 million prisoners in Gaza will never be truly free, and not a single peace will be long-standing.”
Furthermore, expressing gratitude for the support Israel showed to Albania in the field of cybersecurity, Rama announced that he will increase military cooperation, stating, “Israel is a friend in our view. We will continue to deepen our cooperation with Israel in the fields of defence, security, cybersecurity, and counter-terrorism. With the experience in intelligence operations, prevention, and social resilience it gained under constant and real threats, Israel is a reference point which should be carefully studied by every serious democracy.”
In Albania, the cooperation with Israel in the fields of security, implementation of law, and cybersecurity reached a turning point after the destructive Iranian cyberattacks against Tirana in 2022. This led to the signing of the formal protocol on security and intelligence support between the two countries in 2023.
Religious Engineering
As Daily Sabah stated, the subtle form of identity engineering directed towards the Muslim population of the region is underway in Albania. The “Baba Mondi”, the leader of the Bektashi Order, has recently met with the Pope in the Vatican to discuss the concept of establishing the sovereign Bektashi micro-country with headquarters in Tirana, modeled after the Vatican order.
The irony of a Muslim community leader consulting a Catholic leader about establishing a sovereign Muslim entity did not escape observers. Critics claim that this project was a calculated political tool designed to tear apart the Muslim fabric in the Balkans and directly counter Turkish soft power in the region. The enthusiastic defense of this exceptional micro-state for a specific Sufi order by Rama, a Christian leader, raises doubts that Western forces are trying to divide regional Muslims to serve their own security architectures.
“Balkan Islam”
These arguments and apprehensions strongly confirm the official reactions and geopolitical analyses following the project’s announcement. Muslim Community of Albania (KMSH) immediately opposed the initiative, issuing an official announcement warning: “Such initiatives set a dangerous precedent and threat to religious harmony in the country. Islamic religion is a unique whole. The statehood based on sectarian divisions is unacceptable,” which directly confirms fears of a fragmented traditional Muslim fabric.
Furthermore, geopolitical expert Janko Šćepanović noted that a sovereign Bektashi state in Tirana could weaken Turkey’s traditional influence on Balkan Muslims. By introducing a Western-backed model of “Balkan Islam,” this entity is explicitly designed to counterbalance Ankara’s religious and political leverage in the region.
This political engineering caused sharp domestic reactions, and former Albanian President Ilir Meta and the political opposition strongly contested that move, accusing Rama of breaking the constitution and serving “dark international agendas” which risk ghettoization of the Muslim population to meet the foreign security frameworks.
The Goal of the West
On the other hand, for Washington and NATO, the Western Balkans represents a vital transit region and a traditional sphere of influence that ensures Europe’s security and provides a strategic link between the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Central Europe.
The main goal of U.S. diplomacy in the region is to restrict Russia’s strategic influence, which is exerted through Serbia and Serbian political structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to prevent Belgrade from shifting into Moscow’s orbit.
With deep concern and careful oversight, Washington is tracking the rapid spread of China’s economic influence in recent years through large-scale investments in infrastructure, railway development, energy projects, and financing mechanisms.
However, geopolitical moves in the region are not limited to great forces.
Spread of the Israeli Presence
The new Israel-centric plan for the Balkans is also unfolding in this fragile region near active conflict zones. Despite its well-known strategic partnership with Greece, Israel is steadily expanding its strategic footprint along a line stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean through security cooperation, economic engagement, and political influence.
“Traces of the Israeli manipulation at the Balkan elections and additional pro-Israeli political progress are based on well-documented global scandals. The significant international media investigation, which exposed the “Team Jorge,” a secret Israeli unit for cyber warfare, proved that Israeli private intelligence operations are actively sabotaging democratic elections globally by spreading false information,” the Turkish media wrote.
In Bulgaria’s unstable political environment, this shadow intervention has yielded tangible results. After a more pro-Israeli government emerged in April 2026, speculations arose in some political circles about foreign influence on the country’s political landscape, echoing earlier claims in Slovenia.
Although the party of former Prime Minister Robert Golob won the most votes in the 2026 election, the pro-Israeli opposition took control of the government. It is widely rumored that Golob, who opposed Israeli policy, fell victim to manipulation. This speculation stems from a shocking wave of spy scandals and subsequent revelations that the private Israeli intelligence company Black Cube cooperated with the opposition. Consequently, it can be argued that Israel is actively participating in foreign interventions across the Balkans to secure compliant governments.
Just as Black Cube used spy scandals as a weapon to destabilize Golob’s government in Slovenia, a parallel mechanism has successfully established a compliant, pro-Israeli political elite in Bulgaria. Its geopolitical integration with the Israeli-Greek axis is specifically demonstrated by the Bulgarian parliament’s procurement of the Israeli Barak MX air defense system.
Tel Aviv and Belgrade
On another front, Israel deepened its relations with Serbia through defense technologies and intelligence sharing. This was formalized in 2021 when Serbia and Israel signed a comprehensive agreement on military-technical cooperation, followed by a strategic cybersecurity partnership in 2022 to protect critical infrastructure. Now, the Serbian SDPR and Israeli Elbit Systems are planning to establish a joint drone manufacturing venture. According to reports, the Israeli company will hold a 51% share in this endeavor.
Meanwhile, Montenegro initially emerged as an economic destination for Israeli interests, driven by a 2022 agreement on mutual economic cooperation. This agreement catalyzed massive investments of Israeli capital along the Adriatic coast, most notably through a multi-million-dollar luxury tourism project and the development of the Bigova Bay real estate, initiated in 2023.
Related Incidents
In conclusion, the Sazan Island case, the establishment of a Bektashi state in the heart of the Balkans, spy scandals in Bulgarian and Slovenian elections, economic and defense partnerships in Serbia and Montenegro, and the expanding Israeli-Greek axis in Bulgaria are not isolated local incidents. Instead, they are interconnected moves on a global chessboard with clearly defined frontlines in a newly repolarized world.
The Balkans is once again at the center of intensifying security and economic competition among global powers. The region has evolved from a local concern into a decisive strategic crossroads where global forces battle for dominance.
“The Balkan countries are small and fragile. To develop their economies and ensure their internal and external security, these nations are forced to form alliances with stronger countries. This reality drives them into partnerships with global powers. In this high-stakes game, the greatest risk for the Balkan nations is being reduced to mediocre pawns. For the people of the region, the only way to avoid becoming the weakest link in this great power game is to raise their sovereign and independent voices,” the Daily Sabah text concluded.
