US Senate Proposes New Bill for Western Balkans

The chairman of the European Subcommittee on the Commission for Relations with the American Senate's Foreign Policy, Senator Jeanne Sahen, with the support of her colleagues from both political parties, proposed once again “The Project on Democracy and Happiness of the Western Balkans” at the Senate's latest meeting.

With the support of senators Roger Wuecker, Ben Cardin, Dick Durbin and Chris Van Holen, the Democrat Senator's proposal is to promote co-operation between Western Balkan countries, but also their co-operation with the US in the field of cyber security and cyber sustainability, in view of Iran and Russia's “harmful efforts to make the countries of the region their target”.

According to a statement from Senator Shaheen's website, the law supports the democratic “and economic development of the region, through initiatives in infrastructure, trade and anti-corruption, including legalisation of sanctions, in order to prevent actors leading destabilising activities”.

The law again entered the Senate procedure Thursday, shortly before the Commission's hearing of relations with the Western Balkans Foreign Policy.

Almost the same group of senators proposed the Law at the Senate's last meeting, but it was not adopted.

“Preservation of peace and strengthening of democracy in the Balkans is of key importance to European security and stability, especially at the time when Putin's unprotested struggle in Ukraine continues”, Shaheen said.

My two-party law will strengthen trade and investment between the United States and the Western Balkans, eliminate corruption, code sanctions against destabilising actors, and send a strong two-party signal that the United States is committed to our partners in the region”, the Democrat senator said.

“Balkan is home to a varied cultural heritage and its geopolitical importance continues to grow”, said Republican Senator Roger Wuecker.

Wuecker added that Ukraine's <x0); brutal Russian invasion underscores the importance of our Balkan partnerships”.

The adoption of this bill would serve as a clear, two-party statement of the United States' commitment to strengthen our diplomatic partnerships in the region”, he said.

The law envisions creating a regional initiative for trade and economic competitiveness, the encoding of two existing executive guidelines for imposing sanctions on corruption and threats to peace and stability in the Western Balkans.

Also, the bill is aimed at launching an initiative to combat corruption, which would lead the US Secretary of State to provide technical assistance to all countries in developing national strategies to fight corruption. /rel/