State Department: Euro-Integration of Balkans Is Urgent

State Department (Flickr.com/ Photo by: U.S. Department of State (IIP Bureau)

The United States Department of State has announced that the U.S. remains absolutely dedicated to the full European integration of Western Balkan countries and underlined that "Russia's unjust and unprovoked war against the Ukraine" clearly indicates that said integration is increasingly urgent for the transatlantic Alliance," the Voice of America (VoA) reported late on March 7.

Asked whether the U.S. is worried over the potential spread of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis to the Balkans -- and whether the U.S. plans to become more active in the region to counter Moscow's narrative -- an unnamed State Department spokesperson told VoA that Russia is indeed a destabilizing factor in the Western Balkans.

"Russia has long been a destabilizing force and source of misinformation in the Western Balkans -- for instance, by supporting the attempted coup in Montenegro in 2016 and the recent efforts to spur tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina," the spokesperson said.

He recalled that media watchdog groups have criticized Russia's state-run media Russia Today and Sputnik for disinformation.

Members of the U.S. Congress have called on Joseph Biden's administration to increase involvement in the Western Balkans due to the current situation. This includes a letter signed by 19 congressmen which requests heightened diplomatic activity in the region in the wake of Russia's invasion of the Ukraine.