The purchase by Kosovo of the \u201cJavelin\u201d missile system, of American production, was considered one of the few positive developments for the Western Balkans in a debate held in Washington by the \u201cNew Line\u201d Institute on the next decade in the region.<\/p>\n
Balkan affairs expert and writer Jasmin Mujanovi\u0107 stated that the decision to strengthen Kosovo\u2019s defense has a positive impact on the entire region.<\/p>\n
\u201cA strong, stable, sovereign Kosovo that has the power to deter attacks and is not dependent on KFOR but is part of the Kosovo Security Forces is very positive for the entire Western Balkans,\u201d said Mujanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n
He mentioned another positive development in the last two or three years, especially an increase in formal and informal contacts between officials and the diaspora of the three Balkan countries: Kosovo, Bosnia, and Montenegro. Referring to past mistakes, such as when Albanian students in Kosovo were \u201cbrutalized by Yugoslav security forces\u201d during the 1981 protests, and Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia did not react, Mujanovi\u0107 emphasized that such mistakes should not be repeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we learned during the \u201990s and as we should learn again, what starts in Kosovo ends in Bosnia, and what starts in Bosnia ends in Montenegro, as the issues are interconnected. When Aleksandar Vulin or Vu\u010di\u0107 talk about the Serbian World, we shouldn\u2019t expect a reaction only from our friends in Pristina; we all should react, as it is a threat to all,\u201d said Mujanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n
According to analyst Mujanovi\u0107 and human rights professor in the Balkans at Columbia University, Tanya Domi, the lack of commitment from the West to the region, and especially the flawed policies with pro-Russian and pro-Chinese nationalists in the Balkans, mainly in Serbia and the Republika Srpska of Bosnia, endanger the region\u2019s security and the credibility of Western foreign policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem we are dealing with is a weak foreign policy from the United States and, moreover, from the EU, and I would argue, and I know there are people who disagree with this, that it seems to soften positions towards some of the worst nationalist impulses and is contrary to the values of the United States,\u201d said professor Domi.<\/p>\n
Russians have set up a large reconnaissance center on the outskirts of the Serbian city of Ni\u0161, very close to the border with Kosovo, said analyst Jasmin Mujanovi\u0107, even though Kosovo is the one facing measures from the West.<\/p>\n
On June 28, the European Union informed Pristina about punitive measures, as Brussels stated that Kosovo authorities did not take the required steps to reduce tensions in northern Kosovo.<\/p>\n
A few months later, as professor Tanya Domi highlighted, in the village of Banjska in north Kosovo, a group of armed Serbs crossed the border from Serbia and carried out an attack considered by the West as a terrorist act. Pristina accused Belgrade of being behind the attack, an accusation denied by Serbia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is a growing disappointment with the behavior of the Serbian government,\u201d said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron in a briefing before members of the British parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee on January 9. The briefing followed Cameron\u2019s visit to Kosovo a week earlier.<\/p>\n
Cameron added that although he could not speak on behalf of Brussels or Washington, \u201cI feel that even in the EU and the United States, there is a disappointment with Serbia because they understand that the Banjska case was a significant risk\u201d.<\/p>\n
For analyst Jasmin Mujanovi\u0107, what British Foreign Secretary Cameron said in London is very accurate, as Western policy towards the Balkans has stalled since the pre-Russian aggression period in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid Cameron acknowledged that despite everything the West is doing with Russian aggression in Ukraine, even in relation to our opponents in Beijing facing Taiwan, they are doing the opposite in the Balkans,\u201d said Mujanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n
For professor Tanya Domi, \u201cthe State Department and the White House at this moment have different priorities\u201d. According to her, even President Biden, who is considered to have good knowledge of the Balkans, is burdened with the issue of elections in the United States, and \u201cthey do not see the Balkans with attention until they are forced to do something. And if it comes to the point that they have to do something, it will be too late. That is my biggest concern and fear\u201d.<\/p>\n
Harun Kar\u010di\u0107, the executive producer of Al Jazeera Balkans television, broadcasting from Sarajevo, argued during the debate that \u201cthere is no possibility that (Serbian President) Vu\u010di\u0107 did not know in advance about the Banjska case\u201d.<\/p>\n
During the debate, it was mentioned that Serbia has spent \u201cextraordinary amounts of money\u201d lobbying in the United States through official and unofficial channels over the past four years, exploiting the significant divisions currently existing in American politics regarding foreign policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery concretely, Serbia is trying very hard to influence the future direction of a potentially new Republican administration,\u201d said analyst Jasmin Mujanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they have identified very clearly some names they would like to see in high positions. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a secret, for example, you know, Serbia would very much like to see Richard Grenell as the future Secretary of State. For the United States, this is a matter of national security because a foreign government is trying to influence appointments within future American administrations\u201d.<\/p>\n
For Mujanovi\u0107, it is surprising that this is not raising an alarm in the United States, as Serbia\u2019s efforts with Grenell are becoming publicly known.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you travel to Belgrade and receive state honors from a person who is a close collaborator of Vladimir Putin, who is a close collaborator of Xi Jinping, and you are part of serious discussions about being a very senior American official in the future administration, this issue should be alarming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The purchase by Kosovo of the \u201cJavelin\u201d missile system, of American production, was considered one of the few positive developments for the Western Balkans in a debate held in Washington by the \u201cNew Line\u201d Institute on the next decade in the region. Balkan affairs expert and writer Jasmin Mujanovi\u0107 stated that the decision to strengthen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":64896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250],"tags":[308,5736,300,150,243,151,3461,301,490,778,326],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n