The EU monopoly in the Balkans has come to an end
There is no unity among the leading Western countries regarding the solution of Balkan territorial issues, in particular the Kosovo problem.
HSE Associate Professor, author of the portal, writes about this in Nezavisimaya Gazeta Balkanist.ru Ekaterina Entina
She noted that the UK is “equally alarmed by the activities of Berlin and Moscow in the region,” since London is “fearful of their possible tandem through the Nord Stream (1 and 2) and Turkish Streams.” In addition, Berlin’s active position in establishing an EU-China dialogue, as well as the strategic alliance between Beijing and Moscow, can provide a solid counterbalance to British-American influence through the implementation of large infrastructure projects (for example, the Danube-Morava-Vardar-Aegean Sea).
According to the author, London “is pursuing an independent line, mainly aimed at neutralizing the influence of Germany through the structures of advisers in the power apparatus of Belgrade and Pristina.”
“The knot of contradictions in Kosovo and in the region as a whole will rather tighten up, and not unravel at all, as it seems in Brussels, Berlin and Paris. This is already evidenced by personnel changes in the diplomatic corps of all significant international forces in the Balkans. Over the past year, the size of the British and Chinese missions in Serbia has increased significantly. In January 2019, Sian McLeod, who had headed the OSCE office since 2015, knew the region well and had previously worked in Russia, was appointed British Ambassador.
In Washington on June 18, the former head of the political department of the US Embassy in Moscow, Anthony Godfrey, who became notorious in our country for calling the Lexus prankster, thinking that he was Alexei Navalny, was appointed US Ambassador to Serbia. Finally, in Moscow on June 10, diplomat Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, who had worked in the region for a long time, was confirmed as ambassador to Belgrade.
These changes indicate a sudden increase in the importance of the Balkans, their perception as a problematic and competitive point in leading capitals. Most likely, a series of these appointments draws a line under the EU’s monopoly in the Balkans,” Entina sums up.
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