From Belgrade To Yerevan: The Kremlin Is Rapidly Losing Allies

Michael Ghetto
9.11.2026, 8:23

Who will be next?

The student-led Serbian protest movement scored an impressive victory in the elections over Aleksandar Vučić, who had served as Serbia’s president for many years. Many viewed this as a turning point. The change in power in Belgrade dealt yet another blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is doing his utmost to preserve Moscow’s waning influence on the world stage amid the protracted invasion of Ukraine.

Vucic led Serbia for nine years and consistently took pro-Russian stances on European policy… His defeat is expected to further weaken Putin’s position in the Balkans and force him to focus on salvaging at least what remains of his former influence.

A few days earlier, the parliament of neighboring Romania appointed a new pro-European government and prime minister, ending a five-month political stalemate. The vote took place less than a week after the Romanian Air Force shot down Russian drones over the country’s territorial waters in the Black Sea. Bucharest’s tough response helped rally democratic forces and led to the formation of a new coalition cabinet.

Had the Romanian parliament failed to approve the government, the country would have faced early elections and a new period of political uncertainty, which Moscow could have exploited.

In recent years, Romania has faced large-scale interference in its electoral process by the Kremlin, which led the country’s Constitutional Court to annul the results of the 2024 presidential election. The formation of a new cabinet now opens the prospect of relative political stability. This will likely also allow Romania to continue to confidently support Ukraine, including by providing logistics for military aid and energy supplies.

Vucic’s fall in Belgrade and the rise to power of a new pro-European government in Bucharest came just six months after the defeat of yet another key pro-Kremlin figure in the region. In April 2026, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had led the country for 16 years, lost the election. Throughout that time, many considered him Moscow’s unofficial representative in NATO and the EU. Orbán was often accused of promoting Russian interests, opposing Ukraine’s integration into Western structures, and blocking European aid to Kyiv.

Orbán’s successor has not completely abandoned his predecessor’s hardline stance toward Ukraine, but Budapest can no longer be called a reliable partner of the Kremlin. The new Hungarian government seeks to build relations with Kyiv in a more pragmatic manner, while simultaneously taking a firmer stance toward Russia. This has weakened Putin’s ability to influence political decisions in Brussels.

Southeast Europe is not the only region where Russia is losing its influence. On the other side of the Atlantic, the forcible seizure of power by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026 deprived the Kremlin of an important partner. And the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024 forced Moscow to urgently seek ways to maintain a strategic foothold in the Middle East.

Russia is rapidly losing influence even near its own borders. In the South Caucasus, its once-dominant position has been significantly undermined in recent years. This occurred after Moscow failed to intervene effectively in the new round of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Relations with Yerevan, in particular, have deteriorated sharply, as Yerevan now seeks to overcome its long-standing dependence on Moscow.

However, there are also reasons for optimism in Moscow’s foreign policy. Relations with China, Iran, and North Korea are perhaps stronger than ever before. Neighboring Belarus maintains close ties with the Kremlin, and Georgia’s pro-Russian leadership appears to have managed to hold its ground, weathering a prolonged wave of public protests.

Meanwhile, upcoming elections in several key European countries, including France and Germany, could bring Kremlin-friendly forces to power. So it is clearly too early to write Putin off entirely.

But Russia’s recent setbacks in the Balkans once again clearly demonstrate the foreign policy challenges the Kremlin faces on the eve of the sixth year of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with no end in sight.

Putin had hoped that this war would allow modern Russia to regain its lost geopolitical positions and restore its status as a great power. Instead, however, his invasion has laid bare the limits of Russia’s military power and curtailed Moscow’s ability to project power and extend its influence on the world stage.

Michael Ghetto, New Voice

PATREON Support the website

Write your comment