The EU is concerned about Russia’s attempts to incite a war in the Balkans

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a conference for journalists from Africa that there is information that Russia is trying to start a war in the Balkans.

“Pay attention to the Balkans. Trust me, we have information. Russia has a long plan. The Middle East, the second distraction will be the Balkans. Because if the partners don’t do something now, there will always be an explosion there – it won’t be a new story. Their relationship has been in crisis for a long time. That is why Russia will invest today in one Balkan country fighting another,” said Zelensky.

The European Union also said it shares the Ukrainian President’s concern that Russia might try to stir up conflict in the Western Balkans region.

This was said by the EU’s spokesman for foreign affairs and security issues, Peter Stano, in response to a question as to whether the EU shared Zelensky’s concern that Russia would try to provoke conflicts in the Western Balkans region.

“We have been saying for a long time that Russia is also trying to exert malignant influence in the Western Balkans region. So yes, this is a concern that we share, and it is not a new concern, but a concern that has been with us for some time. “On this point we agree with the President of Ukraine and we know that Russia is doing everything in its power to sow discontent, political instability, foreign influence, information manipulation and others,” said EU spokesman Peter Stano.

He added that it was precisely for this reason that the EU had stepped up its support for partners in the Western Balkans to counter these threats.

Stano would not talk about the details of the information they had or whether Zelensky had conveyed his information to them, but added that “the EU is aware of what Russia is trying to do in the Western Balkans”.

“We don’t comment on the information we share with our partners.” Especially not when it comes to something so specific. But we have information and have been monitoring these activities of Russia for some time and we know what Russia is trying to do. That is why we are in contact with our partners in the Balkans about this,” he said, adding that this had also been discussed at the last meeting between the foreign ministers of the EU countries and their colleagues from the Western Balkans region.

European Council President Charles Michel and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic also commented on Zelensky’s warnings about the possibility of Russia provoking a conflict in the Western Balkans at a meeting in Zagreb on Thursday evening. They said that “the best answer for the long-term stabilization of the Western Balkans region on the part of the EU would be the enlargement of the European Union to include the integration of this region”.

Plenkovic, meanwhile, cited the recent attack by what he called a “Serbian paramilitary group” in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo as proof of how the situation in the region could escalate.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, also spoke today about the Russian threat.

“Our region is facing destabilization attempts that are most likely directed by Russia, but the main actors come from the region itself.” Kosovo has been confronted several times this year, including in May and June and most recently on 24 September, with scenarios that had only one goal, namely to destabilize not only Kosovo, but the entire region.”

/The Geopost/