Thewesternbalkans
Nicholas Lokker, a research associate for the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security and Kristen Taylor, a researcher for the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security have written:
“With EU enlargement back on the political agenda following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the West has an opportunity to revitalise its policy toward the Western Balkans. To achieve this goal, the US must assume greater leadership by advocating for a staged and reversible accession process and increasing its efforts to reduce intra-regional tensions. To capitalise on this renewed geopolitical momentum, greater leadership from the United States is key”.
Active engagement from Washington now will allow the European Union to take over primary responsibility for the Balkans and lead without U.S. assistance in the future.
On the other side, in response to conflict breaking out across the recently dissolved Yugoslavia in 1991, Luxembourg’s former foreign minister Jacques Poos famously proclaimed it to be “the hour of Europe, not the hour of the Americans,” hoping to spur the European Union to lead in its own neighbourhood. Yet this vision never manifested. After European efforts sputtered, the United States—despite initial reluctance to become involved—assumed the predominant role in the region.
The long-term goal of Western policy toward the region must be to realise Poos’s vision, with the EU assuming responsibility for the Western Balkans as the United States increasingly turns its attention to other areas of the world, such as the Indo-Pacific.
“Paradoxically, however, achieving this end state requires a more concerted short-term effort from Washington to stabilise the region” said Nickolas Lokker and Kristen Taylor.
The best method of ensuring this stability is the accession of the Western Balkan nations to the European Union. While it may seem that EU enlargement is a matter for Brussels to settle, the United States has significant equities in the enlargement process.
Moreover, once the Western Balkans are firmly ensconced within the EU, Washington can finally divest itself from its role as the power broker in the region.
While responsibility for this decision lies with Brussels, pressure from candidate countries could move the needle. Therefore, in addition to urging EU leaders toward staged accession, Washington use its influence with Western Balkan governments to propose that they adopt a unified position in favour of a phased integration process.
Meanwhile, Washington could capitalise on recent events to pressure Belgrade to implement reforms.
While Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s straddle between the West and Russia is an imposing obstacle to regional stability, Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has opened a window of opportunity.
As the West realises the importance of filling geostrategic vacuums in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it cannot afford to fail in integrating the Western Balkan countries into the EU.
But while EU accession is the best promise for the region’s future stability, the path to membership cannot be paved by the European Union alone.
“To guarantee that it can dedicate energy elsewhere when it matters most in years to come, the United States realises that, for now, it remains indispensable in the Balkans” finished their analysis the researchers.
Let see now what we can find in the documents of the US’ State Department. Some basic positions of the Joe Biden’s administration concerning American relations with the WB are developed as follow:
“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.”
The United States 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. The US also wants to help the region grow and prosper while protecting strategic infrastructure and industries against China’s malign practices.
In addition to the strong economic ties to the region, the United States values its partnerships in the defense and security space, including with the NATO Allies, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The US intends to further enhance that cooperation through joint training, exercises, deployments, and procurements.
The US welcome the progress made by Albania and North Macedonia on critical reforms and the opening of EU accession negotiations with both countries.
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. The US supports 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. The US 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 and to start accession negotiations with Brussels.
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.
The US’ State Department also developed so cold Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) for all of the Western Balkan countries, which is a guiding book for the US missions to this country. In the documents we can see four general items: Chief of Mission priorities; Mission strategic framework; Mission goal and objectives and Management objectives. The ICS are based on the overriding U.S. strategic interest in the Region of the WB.
Till April 2024, Special Representative to the Western Balkans was Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar.
In April 2024 the US State Department appointed Alexander Kasanoff as special envoy for the Western Balkans. Kasanoff is currently deputy assistant secretary for the Western Balkans in charge of press and public diplomacy in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, the State Department said in a statement. Previously, Kasanoff worked in Ireland, Turkmenistan, Chile and Ukraine. He received the James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence for his work as a political advisor at the US Embassy in Kyiv during the Maidan Revolution and the subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is a graduate of the National War College, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Hamilton College. Alexander Kasanoff speaks French, Italian, Russian and Spanish.
To be continued.
