Press Releases

12/05/2022

EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana (December 6)

Brussels is courting the wrong side

Tomorrow’s EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana will focus on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) fears that a new front might emerge in the Western Balkans if the EU fails to set the rights course: “So far, the EU seems to have lost its orientation. There is no consensus about the priorities, and the ethno-nationalists are leading the EU around by the nose,” stated Jasna Causevic, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. “Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić is letting the conflict with Kosovo escalate on purpose. “Together with Milorad Dodik in the Republika Srpska, he is trying to promote Russian imperialism in the region. Ultimately, it is his goal to break up Bosnia.” The countries of the EU must support the sanctions imposed by the United States and Great Britain – and promote the political agendas of constructive politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik is planning to build up an authority for medicines in the Republika Srpska – against a ruling of the constitutional court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Further, he has announced plans to build up an army. “This would be a serious threat to peace in the country. The constitutional and institutional architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina would fall apart,” Causevic explained. “To facilitate a positive development in the Western Balkans, the governments of the EU countries must no longer let extremists such as Dodik and the Croat nationalist Dragan Čović do what they want.” At least Germany should realize the danger and – in the course of the next meeting in Tirana – draw a clear red line.

Together, the EU, the US, and NATO are opposing the Russian ideology and the territorial claims of the Kremlin. Actually, they should also be able to take a stand against the machinations of Serbia and Croatia in the Western Balkans. “Sticking to the concept of different entities – which was constituted in the Dayton Agreement – will not help to establish a liberal and democratic state of Bosnia,” Causevic added. “Now, 27 years after the war, Serb politicians are still courted on the European stage – despite the genocidal ambitions of their predecessors. The only way to preserve the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to prevent another war in the Western Balkans would be to ensure that Bosnia will be able to join the EU and NATO soon.” The two former High Representatives for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schwarz-Schilling and Valentin Inzko, had demanded this in the spring of 2022, as had the former Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša.