Doomscrollers by day, gamers by night: patching digital sovereignty in the Western Balkan states amid US-China technological rivalry

This article examines the complex landscape of digital sovereignty in the WB states against the backdrop of the technological rivalry between the US and China and the region’s EU accession. A double analytical lens is introduced to analyse digital sovereignty: ‘sovereignty over’ and ‘sovereignty through’. The article shows that WB states are not merely passive recipients of external technological initiatives. Instead, they are portrayed as opportunistic and sometimes strategic actors operating within digital dependencies. Their technological choices are shaped by formal policy frameworks, market forces, and institutional capacities, with a focus on cost efficiency. In particular, the paper analyses the interplay between China’s Digital Silk Road and the US-led Clean Network Initiative in the region. It shows that some WB states join US pressure to ban Chinese technologies (e.g. Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo), while others (e.g. Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) maintain cooperation with Chinese digital companies, often for pragmatic reasons. Ultimately, the article argues that digital sovereignty in the Western Balkans is a function of technological and institutional capacity, geopolitical pressure, discursive framing and strategic adaptation by local actors, which raises the question of whether their hedging strategies truly represent digital sovereignty or illustrate a permanent lack of it.