NATO Conference: Balkans Could Become Powder Keg Again, Serbia Is a Knot

Italy and the Balkans (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

Experts and analysts at a NATO conference in Rome agreed on Oct. 19 that the Western Balkans could become the powder keg of Europe again and that it was strategically important to the European Union and Atlantic Treaty and in light of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Italian news agency ADN-Kronos reported.

NATO officials and geopolitical experts noted that no more security peripheries existed in Europe and stressed that the EU and NATO, which had two operational pillars in the region, needed to accelerate strategic action and speed up the pace of admission, keeping in mind that it was necessary for the Western Balkans to remain tied to the West.

A solution must be found for the Serbian knot in order to make headway when it comes to the region's countries joining the EU, it was said during a discussion at the conference, organized by the NATO Defense College Foundation.

Vessela Tcherneva, head of the European Council on Foreign Relations, stressed that Serbia was the country that would make or break enlargement for the entire region, as it had a very special role in the Western Balkans and that, when Serbia joined the EU, it would open the doors to others, including Kosovo. The conference's participants emphasized that protecting the Western Balkan area meant protecting the freedom of transportation, state sovereignty and peace on the continent, while defending democracy, human rights and the state of law -- fundamental values for NATO and the EU.