The UK has cut funding aimed at countering Russian propaganda in the Western Balkans, where Russia is accused of sowing division and destabilisation, from £40 million last year to £24 million for 2025-26. Keir Starmer’s decision to cut overseas aid has resulted in a 40 percent reduction in funding for programmes aimed at countering Russian aggression and disinformation in a European region the prime minister himself has previously described as vital to the UK’s national security.
Funding committed to the western Balkans — a region where Russia has been accused of fuelling division and destabilisation — has been reduced from £40 million last year to £24 million for the 2025–26 financial year.
The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) is intended to address the most serious threats to the UK’s national security, both domestically and overseas. Starmer has previously described the western Balkans, encompassing Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, as “Europe’s crucible” — the place where the security of the continent is put to the test.
This week, the new head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli, said the UK was operating in “a space between peace and war”, describing Russia as “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist”, intent on subjugating Ukraine and harassing NATO.
Civil society organisations working in the region have warned that the funding cuts appear to be part of a broader shift by the UK government away from conflict prevention. They argue that this trend is occurring even as global conflict intensifies, societies become more polarised, and fundamental freedoms come under increasing pressure.
Pulling back from programmes designed to address the root causes of conflict and fragility, they say, is neither coherent nor strategic at a time when risks to global security are exceptionally high.
The government has responded by stating that the figures cited represent only one element of the UK’s overall investment in the western Balkans, including efforts to combat organised crime and hostile state activity. Officials also emphasised that the ISF is designed to remain flexible, funding short-term projects aligned with evolving national security priorities.
In the previous year, ISF funding was used in part to counter malicious cyber-attacks, strengthen democratic institutions and support independent media across the region.
The reduction in funding appears to be a direct consequence of the government’s policy to scale back Official Development Assistance for low- and middle-income countries. The amount of ODA allocated to the western Balkans through the ISF has been cut from £31.91 million in 2024–25 to £17 million in 2025–26, alongside a £1.15 million reduction in non-ODA funding.
The 2025–26 financial year marks the first phase of a gradual transition towards reducing the UK’s ODA spending from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of gross national income by 2027.
Senior parliamentary figures have warned that the western Balkans are on the frontline of the fight against Russian disinformation and interference, stressing that support for independent media should be expanded rather than reduced. They note that public demand for reliable information is strong, but access to it remains limited.
Experts working on conflict prevention and protection from identity-based violence argue that the UK has built a strong reputation as a trusted and principled actor in the region — a position they say should not be undermined at a moment of intensifying strategic competition and deepening Russian malign influence.
They warn that the UK’s foreign policy institutions must be adequately resourced to confront growing threats to democracy and collective security, and that Britain’s leadership in the western Balkans should be strengthened, not diluted.
