Author Oleg Bondarenko presented the book Balkanist Notes to Banja Luka audience. The book consists of the texts published on the Balkanist portal, dealing with Serbian-Russian relations in recent times.

The best texts, as selected by the author of the collection, are dominated by topics in the fields of history, politics, culture, religion and everyday life.

– First of all, we are dealing with considering Russian-Serbian relations in the political, economic, business, cultural and other contexts – said Bondarenko.

He added that the Balkanist portal had been active for three years and had a version in both Russian and Serbian, as well as a YouTube and Telegram channel.

– I am happy that the promotion is taking place on Vidovdan and I am convinced that we are the strongest project related to the Balkans in the Russian language that exists, because we have good partners. Any reader wishing to delve into, for example, the cuisine or culture of the Balkans, can freely find articles on that topic on our portal – said Bondarenko.

The impression of the historian, publicist and professor Srđa Trifković, who has been to Russia many times, is that many Russians, even those educated, are unaware of the particulars of the Balkan situation and relations with Serbs.

– They have a general feedback on Serbs as a people close to the Russians, one of the few completely immune to the Russophobia which is very present in Western and Central Europe, especially on the other side of religious divisions – said Trifković.

Author Nikita Bondarev and professor of international relations Želјko Budimir also spoke about the importance of such collections, about relations in the Balkans, and relations between Serbs and Russians.

Source and photo: RTRS