"Putin doesn't care about Balkans - he's just after EU"

Austrian Balkans expert and former high representative for Bosnia Wolfgang Petritsch says that "foreign influences in the Western Balkans are overestimated."

Izvor: Tanjug

Friday, 25.08.2017.

12:05

(Getty Images, file)

"Putin doesn't care about Balkans - he's just after EU"

"I was recently in Serbia and, despite the flirting with Russia, I saw that the country sees its future in the EU. Serbia is the most important country in the region and the issue of Serbian-Albanian relations, first of all around Kosovo, is decisive. Austria must make more efforts there because it enjoys a great reputation in the region," said he.

According to him, "foreign influence" in the Balkans is "overestimated."

"President Vladimir Putin doesn't care about the Balkans, but about the EU. Making EU's weaknesses visible is the real goal of Russia's foreign policy, which is why it is necessary to talk with Putin firmly but constructively," Petritsch said.

The policy of embargos, which, according to Petritsch, is actually being conducted by the United States, "is not functioning and has made things even worse." Petritsch, however, believes that sanctions should not now be lifted unconditionally - "but it is a matter for diplomacy to find a compromise with the important neighbor, Russia."

When it comes to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, the former Austrian diplomat pointed out that they are "behind the rest of the region, but politics can achieve more there."

Petritsch also assessed that unless political problems, that is, those concerning institutions are resolved in Kosovo, "Pristina will not be ready for EU accession even in 30 years."

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