Moscow is using ethnic tensions in the Western Balkans to provoke "instability and impede the region's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions," the US State Department said.
The warning came after retired US General Wesley Clark, former supreme allied commander of NATO forces in Europe, recently said Russia, which maintains close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, was using Belgrade as a puppet to sow discord in the region.
Serbia, which has been a candidate for European Union membership since 2012, has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow over its war of aggression against Ukraine, despite voting in favour of several UN resolutions condemning Russian aggression.
In recent months, tensions have been rising in northern Kosovo, which has a significant ethnic Serb minority, and in Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik is also on friendly terms with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US and Britain have imposed sanctions on him for his efforts to undermine the 1995 Dayton peace accord that ended the war in BiH.
Dodik's separatist politics is one of the main obstacles to BiH's progress towards EU membership once it becomes a candidate in 2022.
"It is clear that Russia does not support the same European future for the countries of the Western Balkans that they themselves have chosen and that the people of the region deserve. Russia seeks to exploit inter-ethnic tensions, create instability and hinder the region's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions," a State Department spokesperson told Radio Free Europe.
"We continue to be concerned about the risk that local tensions could escalate into serious political conflicts that could set back countries in the region, for example in northern Kosovo and, given threats of secession, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are working closely with all parties to minimise these risks," he added
In Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, tensions remain high following a terrorist attack in September 2023 in which an ethnic Albanian policeman died after a clash with masked commandos led by Kosovo Serb Milan Radojcic, a close aide of Serbian President Vucic.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Asia James O'Brien recently identified tensions in northern Kosovo and threats by Republika Srpska to secede as the main security risks in the Western Balkans.
"That's why the United States is working with the countries of the Western Balkans to strengthen regional cooperation and advance reforms that will reduce opportunities for malign Russian influence and bring lasting peace, stability, and prosperity to the region," the spokesman said.
"Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine underscores the urgency and importance of these priorities," he added. I BGNES
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