The fragility of peace settlements in the Balkans provides a cautionary tale. US and EU policymakers may inadvertently make matters worse by acceding to the aggressor’s territorial ambitions.
Nato peacekeepers patrol after one police officer was killed and another wounded in an attack.
AP/Alamy
A key meeting is being held in the Balkans as the EU and US seek to resolve regional tension, partly stoked by pro-Russian forces.
A Kosovo police officer guards a road near the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo in September 2023 following an attack on police officers by Serbian militants.
(AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
The U.S. and the EU have neglected the Balkans, hoping that the allure of EU integration would be enough to placate Serbia and other countries. It was not.
Leaders on both sides are ramping up hostility for their own ends.
Kosovo Force and Kosovo Border Police conduct a joint patrol on the administrative boundary line between Kosovo and Serbia.
U.S. Army photo by Sgt. David I. Marquis, Multinational Battle Group-East/Alamy
The war in Ukraine has added new momentum to the argument of expanding the EU eastward. However, institutional and political obstacles to making this dream reality abound.
Another big table, but this time Vladimir Putin isn’t sitting at the head.
EPA-EFE/Irinian presidential office handout
A digest of the week’s coverage of the war against Ukraine.
Members of the Levica party march on a government building during a protest in Skopje, North Macedonia, on July 6, 2022. Thousands of people marched for several nights after French President Emmanuel Macron announced a proposal to enable the country’s admission into the EU that many North Macedonians find controversial.
(AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
The EU is creating resentment in North Macedonia over its feud with Bulgaria. In the midst of the Russia-Ukraine war, it will only serve to benefit Russia in its efforts to undermine the EU.
In Belgrade, Serbia, residents and visitors queue to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus (March 28, 2021).
Oliver Bunic/AFP
While Serbia’s Covid-19 infection rate continues to be worrisome, the country has shown the ability to vaccinate a higher proportion of its population than EU nations.
Celebrating Montenegrin independence on May 21, 2006.
Diminar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
Western leaders learned the hard way 25 years ago that conflict in the Balkans can become ethnic cleansing. Add Russia into the mix, and Montenegro’s new problems are US and European problems, too.