he mainstream media has hinted Russia may have had a hand in the Macedonian crisis (FYROM – the Former Yougoslavian Republic of Macedonia, as Greece insists on calling its neighbor). Russia said that the West has artificially created it. The West – the U.S. and particularly Europe has little interest in a crisis in the Balkans, taking that it is in its near neighborhood and it already serves as a route that refugees take to enter Europe. There are very few other things that will complicate Europeans’ affairs more than renewed Balkan crisis. For Russia, anything that helps keeping the Balkans away from the West sphere of influence serves its interest.

The Macedonian Crisis – a Game of Influence (?)