Preliminary communication

https://doi.org/10.20901/pm.63.2.07

Digital Diplomacy and FIMI-related Communication: Russian Embassy Facebook Activity in the Adriatic-Balkan Region*

Marko Roško ; University of Dubrovnik, Faculty of Media and Public Relations
Marijana Musladin ; University of Dubrovnik, Faculty of Media and Public Relations
Ivana Grkeš Tošović orcid.org/0009-0008-7155-1041 ; University of Dubrovnik, Faculty of Media and Public Relations

Abstract

This article examines Facebook communication by the official pages of Russian embassies in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro between 2019 and 2023. Based on a manual quantitative content analysis of 6,996 posts, the study distinguishes between routine diplomatic communication and FIMI-related communication. It analyses the volume, temporal distribution, and dominant topics of FIMI-related posts, focusing on how broader Russian geopolitical narratives were adapted to local political contexts in the post-Yugoslav space. The findings show that embassy communication combined ordinary public diplomacy with narratives delegitimising Ukraine, NATO, the EU, and the United States, while also drawing on disputes and vulnerabilities related to Kosovo, Republika Srpska, the Dayton Agreement, and Montenegro’s relations with Russia. Embassy activity in Croatia and Slovenia declined after the 2022 platform restrictions, whereas activity in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro remained more sustained.

Keywords

Digital Diplomacy; Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI); Disinformation; Adriatic-Balkan Region; Ukraine War

Hrčak ID:

349751

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/349751

Publication date:

24.7.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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