Hamilton: Were it not for Kosovo, America would not look to the Balkans

So said Daniel Hamilton, expert at the School for Advanced International Studies at the University of “Johns Hopkins”.

The Serbian language voice “, the Voice of America, says this prominent connoisseur of European circumstances is not convinced that Washington, or even European capitals, will make sufficient efforts to speed up the Euro-Atlantic integration process of remaining Western Balkan countries.

Hamilton, who has a harsher attitude than other Balkans, says the US, under Trump's direction, has no time to deal with the region.

The [ Trump's] administration is trying to shift the issue of the Western Balkans to Europe, while Europeans are not spending much time in this region. Important American officials who know this terrain are no longer in position. Simply, there is no high-level person particularly concerned with Balkan issues. Neither is the American presence in that region particularly large but in Kosovo, which is of key importance from the international presence's view of residents there, but not so big as America can change something”, he said, broadcast Koha.net.

According to him, things do not stand best in the European bloc, where Chancellor Angela Merkel has tried to do more for the region in the past few years, but is recently giving up.

The <x0). The British, the second most important state to address the issue, will soon not be a member of any European Union institutions. France has never played an especially big role. As a result of the circumstances, Austria has engaged, but its impact is not sufficient to do something”, he adds.

Meanwhile, the impact of non-European countries has been strengthened, he has told the “The Voice of America”.

Not only the influence of the Russian state but also the influence of Russian organised crime. Chinese people are also ambitious to invest in Europe. Islamic countries have a visible impact on Bosnia and other parts of the region. Turkey is also committed to its own reasons, not always as part of Western approach. In addition, political leaders in most countries are stealing from their own populations and using the state-owned leverages to remain in power”, Hamilton said.

According to him, Western Balkan citizens have become more and more cynical as a result of old promises that in the near future they will become part of the European Gulf.

At the end of the 1990s armed conflicts, following the tragedy in Bosnia and war in Kosovo, the international community has undertaken a series of projects for reconciliation and reconstruction of these post-war countries. It's been a long time since.”

Hamilton says the Western Balkans need further common commitment from both sides of the Atlantic.