The stability of the Western Balkans has always been a priority of the policy of the United States of America (USA), but the desire for stability often comes into conflict with the normative desires for democratization and liberalization of that region.
This was said at the panel "Balancing Acts: US approach to stability in the Western Balkans", during the 2BS forum in Budva organized by the Atlantic Alliance of Montenegro.
Political scientist Jasmin Mujanović said that the stability of the Western Balkans has always been a priority for the USA.
"In the area of the Western Balkans, the US desire for stability often comes into conflict with the normative desires for the democratization and liberalization of the Western Balkans, which can be seen through US relations with Belgrade," said Mujanović.
He believes that, at this moment, Belgrade is the most important strategic partner of America in the area of the Western Balkans, perhaps even more important than some NATO allies.
"We had an attack on NATO troops in the area of Kosovo, in the municipality of Zvečani, followed by sanctions for the Government of Kosovo, which is a very strange reaction of the EU and the USA. This clearly suggests to us that for this American administration, relations with Aleksandar Vučić are more important than relations with Priština, Sarajevo, Podgorica", said Mujanović.
He said that the fact that no clear message to Washington is being heard from Sarajevo, Pristina and Podgorica is a consequence of the fact that Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are democratic states, "which Serbia is not at this moment".
Mujanović said that the foundations of America are based on ideas and values and that it has always been an ideological force and the best ally of small countries that aspired to ideological liberalization.
"People in Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are advocating for the USA to lead an ideological, normative policy towards this region, and not to enforce a harsh "real policy", stated Mujanović and added that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo should receive support for their Atlantic initiatives.
He believes that the expansion of the EU in 2030 is a "hollow story", but that the story of the expansion of NATO to the area of the Western Balkans by that date is quite realistic.
"BiH, including Kosovo, could join the Alliance before 2030, and why shouldn't that be the American and Euro-Atlantic goal of all allies, and not wasting time in frozen European processes until there is a real political transformation in the EU and then then in the area of the Western Balkans", said Mujanović.
Edward Joseph, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, said that last February the world changed, but the Balkans did not.
"If he has changed, then it is worse. Why when the West, the EU and the USA become stronger, and Russia weakens and becomes isolated? Why is Blakanu in such bad shape? It should be the other way around and we need an answer to that question," said Joseph.
According to him, America failed to make a connection between the Russian war in Ukraine and the situation in the Balkans.
"What is the strategic mistake. Ambassador (Judy) Reising Reinke said that this war is a threat to the Western European order. The Balkans are part of that Western order, but they don't see it that way. The Balkans are still a second-order problem," said Joseph.
The president of the Montenegrin Helsinki Committee, Miodrag Vlahović, said that the American policy of appeasement towards the Vučić regime has been going on for 12 years and that it is counterproductive.
The policy of pandering is a legitimate diplomatic practice, but, as he said, it is used for certain reasons in a short period of time.
"The reasons are that you often want, for example, an individual or institutions to work in a different way, and in this way you warn them that what they are doing is not the best. An example of this is the stick and carrot policy. But even that carrot, when given for too long, loses its meaning. Therefore, it is problematic if for 12 years you give in and flatter the regime in Belgrade, which is personified by Vučić", said Vlahović.
When it comes to Podgorica's response to such US policy, Vlahović said that Montenegro does not have a policy, "but a group of political forces that says that what they know the American interlocutor expects, but does something completely different in practice."
"I think it's high time that policy changed. We are a small country and we are aware of that fact, but we managed to carry out a couple of capital, historical processes in a way that is good, positive and non-Balkan", said Vlahović.
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