"Each country goes its own way": how Balkan policy shapes relations with Israel

Countries' relations with Israel reflect local politics, defense deals and strategic interests rather than a unified position.

During Israel's genocidal war against Gaza, Europe's position has been somewhat aligned.

Groups such as Spain and the Republic of Ireland have long been more vocal in their condemnation of Israel, but overall, a shift from unconditional solidarity with Israel to concern about its behavior has taken hold in much of the continent.

List of 4 items List 1 of 4 Photos: Thousands march across Europe to demand an end to Israel's war on Gaza.

List 2 of 4 "Kosovo's moves toward Israel are the price of alignment with US policy"

List 3 of 4 How the Gaza Genocide Followed Bosnia's Painful Model

List 4 of 4 What were Trump's agents doing for Dodik, a pro-Russian politician in Bosnia?

Across the Balkans, differing policies toward Israel reflect domestic calculations, transactional diplomacy, and unresolved identity politics rather than a shared vision for the Middle East, experts say.

"The Balkan countries have almost nothing in common, so it's no surprise that their positions on Israel and Gaza are all over the map," International Crisis Group analyst Marko Perlek told Al Jazeera. "Every country goes its own way."

Perlek noted that while there is genuine disgust with Israel's policy in Gaza and sympathy for the Palestinians — particularly among Bosnian Muslims — most countries in the region are taking positions based on unrelated interests.

Regional consensus is almost impossible, said Florian Bieber, a professor of Southeast European history and politics at the University of Austria Graz.

"Attitudes towards Israel are strongly shaped by domestic politics as well as national narratives, making the position of a region or even a specific country unlikely," Bieber told Al Jazeera.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: differences from one entity to another

Nowhere is this fragmentation more evident than in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the war in Gaza has deepened existing ethno-national divides.

Bosnian political representatives and many people in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina have expressed strong solidarity with the Palestinians, while Republika Srpska leaders have been openly pro-Israel and some Croatian political figures have taken a more sympathetic tone towards Israel.

"Bosnian solidarity with Palestinians is often seen not only through an ideological lens, but also from the perspective of war and victimization of Serb nationalist aggression, comparing the Palestinian experience to the Bosnian experience of the 1990s," Bieber explained.

Conversely, the leaders of the Serb-majority entity Republika Srpska, led by former president Milorad Dudik, have openly embraced Israel.

Foreign policy analyst and journalist Bosco Jaksic told Al Jazeera that for Dudik, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend - Jews and Orthodox Serbs against Muslims. This religious and ethnic factor allows him to maintain Israel's connection in parallel with his rapprochement with Russia, while simultaneously taking an action. The new American flip with praise from [US President] Donald Trump."

Prilek added that Bosnian Serb ties to Israel, and particularly Likud, Israel's ruling party, represent "an attempt to find allies for its internationally unpopular flirtation with separatism, and an indirect way to strengthen ties with parts of the MAGA [Make America Great Again] movement and the Trump administration."

Serbia: arms sales and multi-vector balance

In Serbia, the approach to Israel mixes defense economics with foreign policy.

Despite historical friendly relations with Palestine and a vote in favor of Palestinian membership in international forums, Belgrade has been exporting ammunition and weapons to Israel since October 2023.

This relationship has gone beyond exports. In September, Serbia opened a UAV assembly plant linked to Israel, underscoring the growing practical dimension of bilateral defense cooperation.

Vuk Vuksanovic, a lecturer in foreign policy and macro strategy at King's College London, told Al Jazeera that Serbia's defense industry "wasn't particularly strict with its customers and the desire for profit was one of the factors".

However, he emphasized broader geopolitical ambitions.

He said: In the past three years, in the field of security cooperation, it has tended towards Israel, while diplomatically, Serbia tries to be cautious in multilateral institutions due to its relations with the Islamic world.

Vuksanovic noted that Belgrade sees Israel as a partner to "gain support from Israel lobby groups and access to the Trump administration in the United States," especially as the Serbian government faces domestic political opposition.

Meanwhile, Jaksic warned of the international dangers involved.

He said: Due to the significant increase in ammunition exports to Israel during the Gaza war, Serbia is in danger of being accused of complicity in the genocide. Beyond financial calculations, the Serbian president is trying to use his closeness with his ideological ally, autocrat and nationalist Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel) to get closer to Trump.

Kosovo, Albania and anchor Washington

For Kosovo and Albania, foreign policy towards Israel remains tied to security alliances with Washington.

Under Washington's 2020 agreement, Kosovo opened its embassy in Jerusalem in exchange for Israel's recognition of Kosovo's independence. Serbia, which had pledged to move its embassy to Jerusalem in 2020, ultimately failed to do so.

Jaksic said Pristina opened its embassy in Jerusalem "in protest against the position of the wider international community".

He noted: Israel's growing influence in the Western Balkans is evident. This includes investments, and in the case of Serbia, especially military cooperation. "This absolutely does not rule out individual efforts to buy political immunity from US sanctions or to ease diplomatic pressure."

In neighboring Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama has maintained warm political relations with Israel.

Partly due to operational defense needs, Albania deepened cooperation with Israeli cybersecurity firms after the cyber attacks, while aligning broader diplomacy with Washington and Brussels.

Executive gaps and ideological turns

In Croatia, Gaza's foreign policy has been paralyzed by a sharp executive rift between conservative Prime Minister Andrii Plenkovic and President Zoran Milanovic of the Social Democratic Party.

Plenkovic's government has followed a cautious and mainstream EU approach, while Milanovic has openly condemned Israel's military behavior in Gaza as disproportionate and causing a public rift in the country's foreign policy leadership.

In northern Slovenia, there are ideological changes.

The previous center-left government took decisive measures against Israel—such as an arms embargo, banning imports from illegal settlements, and banning entry of top officials like Netanyahu—as well as recognizing a Palestinian state.