|
The State Department issued this statement
yesterday:
The United States is committed to supporting
the countries of the Western Balkans on their path to European
integration and membership in key European and Euro-Atlantic
institutions. We are working with Western Balkan countries and our
European partners to advance the governance, rule of law, and
anti-corruption reforms – as well as the promotion of independent
media and vibrant civil societies – that will reinforce the region’s
European perspective and advance the long-standing goal of a Europe
whole, free, and at peace.
We are committed to helping the countries of
the Western Balkans deepen their own regional economic partnerships,
achieve their climate goals, counter Russia’s energy coercion
through diversification and clean energy development, and combat
corruption and organized crime. We also want to help the region grow
and prosper while protecting strategic infrastructure and industries
against China’s malign practices.
In addition to our strong economic ties to the
region, the United States values its partnerships in the defense and
security space, including with our newest NATO Allies, Montenegro
and North Macedonia. We intend to further enhance that cooperation
through joint training, exercises, deployments, and procurements.
We welcome the progress made by Albania and
North Macedonia on critical reforms and continue to support the
opening of EU accession negotiations with both countries in June.
The United States stands ready to support work
towards a comprehensive, binding normalization agreement between
Kosovo and Serbia, centered on mutual recognition, that lays the
foundations for lasting cooperation and prosperity. We support the
EU-facilitated Dialogue and encourage the parties to reengage in
this process with a sense of urgency to address both technical and
political issues. We will work with Serbia and Kosovo to implement
their Washington Commitments in support of the goal of full
normalization.
The United States is working with the
international community to support Bosnia and Herzegovina in
pursuing the reforms that will enable it to prosper and secure EU
candidate status, including electoral reforms. The Office of the
High Representative (OHR), which was established 25 years ago under
the Dayton Peace Agreement, has contributed significantly to peace
and stability there. We continue to support the important role of
OHR in advancing the 5+2 agenda, with a renewed focus on
anticorruption as key to entrenching the rule of law.
As we have seen, recent unwarranted speculation
about changing borders in the Balkans along ethnic lines risks
fostering instability in the region and evokes memories of past
tensions. A stable, prosperous future for the Western Balkans must
be based on good governance, rule of law, multi-ethnic democracy,
and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
https://www.state.gov/u-s-commitment-to-the-western-balkans/
What’s new here? Not much. This statement
represents an explicit return to pre-Trump policies in the Western
Balkans established by Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. It is a
repudiation of proposals to move borders to accomodate ethnic
differences. It is also adapts prior policies to new circumstances,
in particular challenges from Russia and China. It reasserts
partnership between the US and Europe in building a Europe whole and
free.
What is missing? There is no clear indication here
of Balkan culprits. The statement of the Peace Implementation
Council Steering Board yesterday partly fills that gap by explicitly
denouncing those who advocate dissolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
But there is still missing any explicit reference to President
Vucic’s all too clear turn away from the EU and towards autocracy.
Nor is there any clear reference to the new Montenegrin government’s
Russophilic and anti-NATO inclinations. State is trying to keep the
mood upbeat and positive. But until Washington explicitly
acknowledges the indigenous forces in the Balkans working against
democratic reforms and Western values with Russian and Chinese help,
it will fail to counter them effectively.
So yes, the statement is good, as far as it goes.
But let’s get back to the future: it will require more vigorous
action as well as happy talk.
PS: A reader points out that the statement lacks a
clear commitment to close cooperation with Europe. It should have
been included.
|
