US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said on Wednesday in Brussels that the West does not want to see the return of past conflicts in the Western Balkans, adding that “NATO will continue to provide security to the region”.

“When I started this job, at the center of our concerns and the concerns of countries around the world, especially in the transatlantic area, it was the Balkans, Bosnia and then Kosova. One thing we do not need in the future is the return of conflicts in the Balkans. NATO has played an essential role in helping the countries of the region progress on their path to membership in the European Union and to broader European stability,” said Secretary Blinken, emphasizing that “NATO represents the backbone of security in the Western Balkans and will continue to do so”.

Secretary Blinken made these comments at the end of the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Brussels, in which the situation in the Western Balkans was discussed, among other things, amid debates about increasing the alliance’s military presence due to concerns that the unresolved situation between Kosova and Serbia may increase instability in the region.

A gun battle between Kosova Police and a group of armed Serbs in September in eastern Kosova has fueled concern in Western countries that Russia may be trying to foment conflict in the Balkans to divert attention from its aggression in Ukraine.

“The Alliance has responded decisively to the actors who aim to destabilize the north of Kosovo, as we have seen earlier this year, by deploying additional troops within KFOR. We have also deepened our cooperation with the force led by the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was also an important part of our conversation during these two days”, said Secretary Blinken, before leaving for Skopje where he will participate in the next meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, said at the end of the meeting that the incident in the north of Kosovo was a serious event.

“This highlights the challenges we face in Kosova and the importance for the parties to work to de-escalate the situation, to refrain from actions and any inciting rhetoric that could further increase tensions,” he said.

About five thousand NATO troops currently take care of security in Kosova, one thousand of which were deployed in the field after the events of September.

The alliance said it is considering a long-term increase in troops to maintain stability in the region, while calling on the parties to work within the framework of talks mediated by the European Union to normalize relations.

Western diplomacy has tried to speed up this process by asking Prishtina to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, while Belgrade to de facto recognize Kosova.

/a.p./