<
https://theconversation.com/russias-influence-in-the-balkans-is-growing-just-as-the-regions-fragile-peace-is-threatened-185345>
"The EU continues to keep Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo,
North Macedonia and Serbia on the waiting list to join, despite the possibility
that the region could shift closer to Russia.
Russia has long been an influential force in the western Balkans from helping
to create pro-Russian associations, to building significant stakes in oil and
gas projects.
Moves to stoke up ethnic tensions between Bosnians and Serbs also appear to
have Russian approval. Meanwhile, Milorad Dodik, the current Serb member of the
presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has supported the creation of the two
self-declared republics in Ukraine, lining up behind Russia’s president
Vladimir Putin.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has a three-member presidency made up of one member from
each of the country’s three major ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats (in
order of size). The state comprises two autonomous entities: the Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, and a third unit, the Brčko
District.
Dodik is also behind plans to establish a new Serb army, and aligns to a
separatist movement that could split Bosnia and Herzegovina in half. Germany
has just announced it will freeze €120 million (£101 million) worth of
infrastructure projects in Bosnia’s Serb region because of concerns over
secessionist policies. And the UK government announced sanctions in April 2022
against Dodik, including a travel ban, for undermining the region’s stability.
Analysts are worried that Dodik’s movement could threaten the uneasy peace
created after the Balkan war, which ended in 1999.
But despite this, EU officials did not even participate in the press conference
scheduled with the leaders of the western Balkans after the recent two-day
summit between the two groups. The most obvious explanation for the impasse is
that another priority always takes precedence – currently Ukraine.
But this approach has been taken as a snub, especially in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia. The EU is creating further resentment
by taking a different approach with Ukraine to the one that has been set out
for the western Balkans."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
