Baerbock: Protecting peace in the Balkans, Germany’s historic responsibility

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says her country has “a historic responsibility” to preserve peace in the Balkans, as it drew a parallel between the bloody break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and Russia’s continuing aggression against Ukraine.

“I am aware that many people here remember the horrific period of the 1990s when they see sights from Kiev, from Mariupol,” Ms Baerbock said in Sarajevo on Thursday, referring to Ukrainian cities that have been targeted by Russian attacks.

The German chief diplomat added that her generation of politicians grew up alongside the 350,000 Bosnian refugees housed in Germany and that this influenced their formation.

“We want to live together in the European home,” Ms. Baerbrock said on the first day of her four-day tour of the Western Balkans, which will also include stops in Serbia, Kosovo and Moldova.