Russia can provoke a conflict in the Balkans to distract the West from the war in Ukraine, said the president of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovsky during a meeting of the International Economic Forum in Davos.
“We have two shaky points in the region of the Western Balkans. This is the Republic of Serbian as part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the north of the Republic of Kosovo. What does Putin’s regime do? And this began many years ago, not only with the outbreak of war against Ukraine. He is trying to provoke people there in order to blow up the integrity of these two countries, ”said Pendarovsky.
He noted that over the past year, Russian propaganda and stuffing fake news were not so active, since the Kremlin was completely focused on the confrontation with the Western allies because of the war in Ukraine.
“But local figures who are not very pleased with the peace agreements concluded in the 90s continue to do their job. And from time to time they resort to aggressive rhetoric, which incites tension in these two countries,” said the president of North Macedonia .
He expressed the conviction that in the event that Russia tries to distract the West from Ukraine, the Western Balkans risk becoming a place for such actions than the Baltic.
and the countries of NATO, the EU, as well as the countries – candidates for joining the EU must take care of this, ”Pendarovsky added, emphasizing that Washington will become a key player in this situation, because it is the United States that provide the most military assistance For Ukraine.