US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the Balkans, particularly Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, were at the center of concern when he took office and stressed his determination not to allow another conflict in the region.
After NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed concern about the rise in tensions in the Western Balkans. On the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member countries, Blinken also spoke about the tensions in the north of Kosovo and pointed out that Kosovo and Bosnia have been at the center of concern since he took office.
Blinken emphasized that efforts are being made to prevent new conflicts in the Western Balkans region.
“When I started my career as Secretary of State, the Balkans were at the center of our concerns. At the center of our concern and the concerns of countries around the world, especially in the transatlantic area, were the Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then Kosovo. One thing we do not want to happen in the future is the return of conflict in the Balkans,” said Secretary Blinken and added:
“NATO has played a key role in helping countries in the region make progress towards membership of the European Union and wider European stability.”
Then, Blinken also spoke about the tensions in the north of Kosovo, inhabited mostly by Serbs, which began in May and culminated in September, after a Serbian paramilitary group carried out an armed attack on the Kosovo police.
An armed group, we will remind you, killed the policeman Afrim Bunjaku on September 24, while three Serbian attackers were also killed in the armed clashes that took place during the day in Banjska and Zvečani.
“The alliance has responded decisively to actors who aim to destabilize northern Kosovo. As we said earlier this year, we have deployed additional troops to KFOR. We have also deepened cooperation with the European Union-led forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was also important part of our conversation over these two days,” said the US Secretary of State, Klix.ba reports.
