The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, extended New Year’s and Christmas greetings to leaders of numerous countries, including Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
However, the published list of greetings does not include any leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), clearly reflecting Moscow’s geopolitical priorities.
According to the statement published on the Kremlin’s official website, Putin sent greetings to leaders of countries that are traditionally allies or maintain specific relations with Russia. Among them are Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The list also includes leaders from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, such as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Turkish President Erdogan, whose country balances between NATO membership and cooperation with Russia.
Notably, Aleksandar Vucic, the President of Serbia, is the only leader from the Western Balkans to receive Putin’s greeting. This can be interpreted as confirmation of Serbia’s significance to Russia, given their longstanding friendly relations and Vucic’s position of balancing between European integration and traditional ties with Moscow.
In contrast to Serbia, no other country from the region is mentioned, highlighting the Kremlin’s approach to the Balkans.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his critical stance toward European Union (EU) sanctions on Russia and his maintenance of political and economic ties with Moscow, is also on the list. Orban’s role within the EU as a sort of “oppositional voice” regarding policies toward Russia is evidently of strategic importance to the Kremlin.
A broader geopolitical message
The list of leaders who received greetings from Putin includes many who are close to Russia or are outside the sphere of Western sanctions and direct support for Ukraine. This includes leaders from the post-Soviet space, such as those of Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, as well as figures like Raul Castro and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, who remains close to the Kremlin despite criticism from the EU.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Fico, despite recently visiting Moscow as the third EU leader to do so since the invasion of Ukraine, is not on the list. However, according to Russian media, Putin did send greetings to Fico, indicating a degree of discretion in the publication of the list. This situation further underscores the selective nature of the Kremlin’s approach to international relations.
The absence of representatives from BiH on the list can be interpreted as an indication of the marginal importance Moscow attributes to its relations with this country. While there are political structures in BiH, such as the government of Republika Srpska (RS), that maintain close relations with Russia, it is evident that this is insufficient for inclusion in this symbolic gesture.
Putin’s greetings reflect a clear geopolitical trend in which Moscow prioritizes leaders who actively support or refrain from sanctioning Russian interests. The absence of Western leaders, with the exception of Pope Francis, further confirms Russia’s isolation from the West. At the same time, the inclusion of leaders like Vucic, Orban, and Erdogan demonstrates that the Kremlin still sees room for influence in regions that balance between East and West, Klix.ba writes.
