2c:T431,

This article investigates the promotion of the Republika Srpska chapter of the Night Wolves Motorcycle Club (NWMC) on Facebook during the first two years of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It analyses how Russia and its strategies for social mobilization were portrayed on the platform, identifying recurring patterns that emphasized Slavic and Orthodox kinship through a narrative of Serbo–Russian brotherhood. These patterns included the glorification of shared historical events and the promotion of the NWMC’s charitable activities. Central to the group’s mobilization strategy was a dichotomous worldview contrasting a sacred, righteous Russia with a corrupt, anti-Christian West. The article argues that the NWMC was deliberately presented as both appealing and ordinary; by downplaying its extremist nature, the group was able to attract widespread support. Facebook functioned as a key medium for mainstreaming Night Wolves ideology and fostering destabilization in the Western Balkans, including explicit calls for armed mobilization to retake Kosovo.

2d:T41f,

This article examines the political influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in Montenegro as a local actor in light of shifting geopolitical circumstances and Russia’s opposition to Western integration strategies. How does Russia use the SOC to influence Montenegro’s divergence from the European Union? The authors examine the SOC as the most influential Russophile non-state actor and its instrumentalization in the hybrid threat context, with a role in Russia’s efforts to deepen divisions and strengthen anti-Euro-Atlantic sentiments in Montenegro through various means, including misinformation and propaganda. The analysis of selected discourse and documents considers the SOC in Montenegro and its spoiler and proxy narratives and activities that undermine not only the European integration process but also Montenegro’s position as an independent state. The article further examines the co-optation of religious and local pro-Russian actors and finds that the SOC remains a prominent actor in domestic politics in Montenegro.

2e:T42c,

This article examines the nature and limits of Russian influence through non-state actors in North Macedonia. To analyze these dynamics, it employs the concept of elite receptivity and introduces a novel analytical distinction between symbolic and institutional influence. It argues that while Russia has built a complex network via ideological proxies—encompassing a range of right-wing and left-wing political parties, civil society organizations, and factions of the Orthodox Church—its ability to secure institutional capture remains severely constrained. This limitation is attributed to the pro-Western orientation of the mainstream political elite, structural coalition dynamics, and particularly the uniformly pro-European stance of the Albanian political parties. By foregrounding elite receptivity as the mediating factor between symbolic resonance and institutional penetration, the article foregrounds how internal political configurations condition and mediate the impact of foreign influence.

2f:T571,