Western Balkan groups call for US engagement to counter Serbia

Leaders of Albanian, Bosnian, Montenegrin communities say a return to US leadership is needed to counter Serbia’s ‘growing militancy’.

Leaders and advocacy organisations from Albanian-American, Bosnian-American and Montenegrin-American communities have called on the US to commit to a stronger presence in the Western Balkans region amid “growing militancy of the government of Serbia”.

In an open letter published on Monday – addressed to the US Senate and House committees on foreign relations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan – the signatories expressed alarm about what it called Serbia’s growing aggression towards Kosovo, but also increasingly towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

“This is a matter of utmost concern to the US because it directly imperils the peace and stability of the Western Balkans region and … in Europe as a whole,” the letter said.