Srecko Latal, editor-in-chief of the regional investigative journalism network (BIRN), shares this assessment. “The Balkans have been destabilized mainly by the absence of the EU,” he says. This allowed third parties like Russia, China and Turkey to fill the vacuum.
But recently the West has paid more attention to the Balkan country. “It seems to me that this Russian threat has really forced the US and the EU to take a slightly more serious approach,” says Latal. One of the constants of Austria’s foreign policy is that Austria is committed to rapidly bringing the Western Balkan States closer to the European Union. Other EU countries are more hesitant here.
Washington imposed sanctions on Dodik in January, and London followed suit in April. The EU refrained from punitive measures but almost doubled its military presence in Bosnia to around 1,100 men and women. A “precautionary measure”, as its commander, the Austrian General Anton Wessely, explained. The Foreign Ministry in Berlin is also considering sending Bundeswehr soldiers to Bosnia again. Coalition circles recently said that a contingent could support the EU’s EUFOR Althea stabilization mission ahead of elections scheduled for October.