The Russian aggression on Ukraine and the changed global security situation will have a two-fold effect on the situation in the Balkans - at least at the current stage, because the situation is changing quickly, the Vecernji List daily reported on Tuesday.

Serbia has a crucial role in the region, as the current situation will force it to choose between Russia and the West. There is no longer room for neutrality, the daily said, noting that the other dimension of the regional impact of the Ukraine crisis is a type of hybrid warfare in the Western Balkans, with refugees, disinformation, or cyber space being used as weapons.

In terms of security, the situation is additionally complicated by the fact that three countries in the region are NATO members, which is both a stabilising factor as well as a risk in terms of a potential attack, albeit not a classic one at the moment. There is no information at present that hard security is threatened or that the region has been destabilised, even though there is always a possibility that the conflict might spill over, says the daily.

The focus is entirely on Serbia, with everyone waiting for Belgrade to finally decide who to side with, whether it will join the EU’s political positions, statements and votes in international forums and whether it will join the sanctions against Russia, and if so, to what extent.

For the time being, Serbia has decided not to join the West in the sanctions against Russia.

“There is no longer any room for neutrality. Serbia’s choice is binary…  either you are for us or for them,” a person with a good knowledge of geopolitics told the daily.