Balša waged a 10-year war against Venice, the First Scutari War. In 1405, Ulcinj, Bar and Budva were seized by the Venetians. Balša then became a vassal to the Ottoman Turks. In 1409, however, Venice had purchased the rights to Dalmatia from King Ladislaus of Naples and began fighting for control of Dalmatian cities. After a huge effort, Balša seized Bar from the Venetians in 1412. Venice, pressed with difficulties, had no choice but to agree to return territories it had previously seized. In 1413 he built a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas in Praskvica Monastery. According to a chapter Balša issued in 1417 he was probably a ktitor of the Moračnik Monastery.