Keir Starmer’s raid on overseas aid has led to a 40% cut in funds for countering Russian aggression and misinformation in a region of Europe described by the prime minister as vital to the UK’s national security.
British funding committed to bolstering the western Balkans, where Russia has been accused of sowing division and creating destabilisation, has been cut from £40m last year to £24m for 2025-26.
The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) is designed to tackle the highest priority threats to the UK’s national security at home and overseas.
Starmer recently described the western Balkans region, encompassing Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, as “Europe’s crucible – the place where the security of our continent is put to the test”.
Last year’s ISF funds were used in part to counter and respond to malicious cyber-attacks in the region and to bolster democratic institutions and independent media.
The cut in UK government funding appears to be a consequence of Starmer’s policy to reduce Official Development Assistance (ODA) for low- and middle-income countries.
The amount of ODA committed to the western Balkans under the ISF has been cut from £31.91m in 2024-25 to £17m for 2025-26. The figures from the Cabinet Office also show a cut of £1.15m in “non-ODA” funding for the region.
The financial year of 2025-26 is the first in a gradual transition announced by the government towards reducing ODA from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income by 2027.
Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee and a former shadow foreign secretary in Starmer’s team before the general election, said: “I visited the western Balkans earlier this month. It is quite clear they are on the frontline of the fight against Russian disinformation and interference, and I am very proud of the work the UK is doing to support them in that fight – for their security and all of Europe’s. More work is needed to support independent media, not less. People are hungry to learn the truth and it’s very difficult to find it.”
Dr Kate Ferguson, the co-executive director and head of policy and research at Protection Approaches, an NGO that works in the western Balkans on preventing identity-based violence, said the UK had a good record in the region and it should not be undermined now.
“The national security strategy rightly recognises that we are in a period of intensifying strategic competition for the rules and governance of our world; in Europe we see this as Russia diversifies its efforts to undermine our democratic consensus,” she said.
“It is essential then that our Foreign Office is properly and appropriately resourced to meet these growing threats to democracy and our collective safety.
“In recent years, the UK has distinguished itself in the western Balkans as a trusted and principled leader when others have sometimes faltered. Now, as new forms of Russian aggression and malign influence deepen in the region, this leadership must be bolstered – and not watered down.’
This week, the new head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli, said Britain was caught in “a space between peace and war” and described Russia as “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist, seeking to subjugate Ukraine and harass Nato”.
Shelagh Daley, the policy team lead at Saferworld, an NGO that runs programmes in the western Balkans, said the cuts appeared to be part of a move by the UK government to deprioritise conflict prevention.
“This reflects what we are seeing as a wider trend in ISF and other UK foreign aid spending amid the cuts. It appears to be a deprioritisation of work on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, even as conflict has increased globally, societies have become more divided, and basic freedoms are being curtailed.
“It doesn’t seem coherent or strategic to be pulling away from programming that aims to address the causes of conflict and fragility at a time when the risks to global security are so high.”
A government spokesperson said: “The figures in the report represent only one part of the UK’s total investment in the western Balkans on issues such as organised crime and hostile state activity.”
“The ISF is designed to adapt to the very latest national security priorities and often funds short-term projects, meaning it is natural for spending decisions to evolve over time.”
