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Balkan Insight (7 March 2022)

Samir Kajosevic

Russia on Monday added Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania to a list of enemy states, accusing them of actions against the Kremlin, along with the United States, EU member countries, Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland and New Zealand. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have imposed severe sanctions on Russia, freezing Russian citizens’ foreign assets and excluding Russian banks from the Swift international payments system.

On March 1, Montenegro joined the European Union’s sanctions, supported also by Albania and North Macedonia. They ban Russian overflight of their airspace and access to their airports, prohibit transactions with Russia’s Central Bank and suspend the broadcasting of Russian state-owned media.

On March 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the West was engaged in “economic banditry” against Russia and that Moscow would respond.

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