For centuries Balkans is playing an important role in Russia’s foreign policy. During the Czarist Russia, the region served as one of the main polygons on the Empire’s way to access the warm seas of the Mediterranean, thus ending its historical deficiency of lacking navigable waters during the winter months. With the establishment of the Soviet Union, Russia was present in the region through the ideological camp formed together with the socialist regimes in the Balkans. Later on, two unusual Socialist regimes of Albania and Yugoslavia severed their ways with the Kremlin. But, despite all Soviet influence in the region would remain pretty strong throughout the Cold War. Moscow’s influence will start diminishing with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. For a decade to come, through the 1990s, Russia will struggle to keep its status as a relevant power in the Balkans. With the wars in Former Yugoslavia the region entered a period of “Pax Americana” where Washington the first time in