US concerned about Russian influence in Balkans

Amid concerns about increasing Russian influence, the US says it will draft a report that analyses co-operation in the area of security between the different Western Balkan countries and Russia.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense, with the consent of Secretary of State, will present the report to Congress.

The Western Balkan countries included in the report will be Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

Under the act of defence spending turned into law this month, the assessment will include a list of Russian weapons systems and other military equipment and technologies worth $1m or more, which have been offered to these countries or have been bought by them since 2012, reports VOA.

The report should also contain a description of any of these countries' participation in training or training with Russia since 2012, as well as any security co-operation agreement these countries may have signed with Moscow or any co-operation in the field of intelligence.

The goal is to create an idea of how co-operation between each Western Balkan country and the Russian Federation affects the security interests of the United States, NATO, Western Balkan countries and any NATO member bordering these countries, the document says.

The report should also include an assessment about security co-operation between any Western Balkan country and the United States, as well as an assessment of security co-operation between these states and NATO.

Western countries, including the US, are increasingly concerned about a perceived increase in Russian influence in the Balkans and Central Europe.

In November, the Washington-based Atlantic Council called for a permanent American military presence in the Balkans in the climate of what it sees as Russia's growing efforts to exercise political influence throughout the region.

Earlier, Republican Senator John McCain, after a tour of the Balkans, complained about a <x0vacum” of the American presence, which he said Russia was willing to fill up, and called for more high-level American visits to the region.

In August 2017, US Vice President Mike Pence visited Montenegro, where he participated in the Adriatic Charter meeting, telling Western Balkan leaders that the United States will continue to hold Russia “responsible for its operations”.

“We must be firm and uncompetitive in the face of aggression from an unpredictable country, which casts shadows from the East”, said Pence.

“Russia, he said, continues to try to re-harse international borders by force and here in the Western Balkans Russia has worked to destabilise the region, destroy your democracies and separate you from each other, as well as the rest of Europe”.

The United States opposes any attempt to use force, threats or intimidation in this region or beyond”, he added. “Western Balkans have the right to decide their future”.

The heads of state and government of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia also participated in Podgorica.

Vice President Pence said the future of the Western Balkans is “in the West”.