The US Senate Armed Services Committee has discussed the situation in Southeast Europe on Friday.
The US Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the security situation in Southeastern Europe, on US national interests and on strengthening the influence of Russia and China.
Janusz Bugajski said during his testimony that he could not imagine a new armed conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, but that he could imagine a conflict in BiH:
“I do not think that at this moment the Serbian leadership in Republika Srpska would want that. But they play, they play with the idea of separation, they play with the idea of a dysfunctional or failed state. I would say that Banja Luka has actually become the site of Russia’s largest Russian influence. Probably more than Belgrade in the region. “He also said he thinks US Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Matthew Palmer, will actually be more involved in the Bosnian crisis than in the Kosovo-Serbia crisis.
Participants agreed that stronger US engagement was needed.
“An unstable and conflicting Balkans undermines US national security and a diplomatic retreat would be a major US defeat. If you remember, we have invested a huge amount of diplomatic, political and military capital in the region over the past 20 to 30 years. For us, any major defeat and new war, especially in Bosnia or between Kosovo and Serbia, would be a great disaster. Not only would Russia and China profit from this, they would use this new momentum to undermine other European countries, “Bugajski said, Radio Sarajevo reports.
