US to end nation-building policy in the Western Balkans

In a report to Congress on Washington's relationship with the Western Balkans, the State Department has announced that the United States is abandoning its policy of nation-building and interventionism in the Western Balkans and will instead turn to cooperation, with special emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the realization of the Southern Gas Interconnection with Croatia.

The report states that the era of American nation-building has come to an end, thereby confirming the administration's policy shift towards stability and mutually beneficial partnership. It further states that the administration is focused on empowering local actors to address their own challenges, rather than prolonging an overreliance on international intervention or oversight.

The document defines three main priorities of American policy: maintaining regional stability, strengthening economic and energy cooperation, and countering the influence of Russia and China and organized crime. It also notes that decades of U.S. investment in all six Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, has produced tangible results, including robust and positive relationships.

With regard to regional security, the report announces plans to expand American security cooperation with all the countries of the region through joint military exercises, training and strengthening of defense capacities, and greater reliance of European partners on their own security resources and NATO.

On the issues of strengthening economic ties and energy cooperation, the report defines the Western Balkans as an area of opportunity for American companies, especially in transport, digital and energy infrastructure. A special emphasis is placed on energy, with the administration assessing that the region's dependence on Russian energy remains a serious strategic vulnerability and announcing support for supply diversification through US liquefied natural gas, renewable sources of energy and nuclear technology.

The State Department report also warned of the growing influence of Russia and China in the region, accusing Moscow of stoking ethnic divisions and using energy as a tool of political pressure, while China is expanding its influence in countries with weaker institutions and a lower level of transparency through loans, infrastructure projects and political ties.

Source: HRT