The Democratic Biden administration in the United States has introduced countless changes in the country’s politics, both domestically and in the area of foreign policy, which is once again an important part of the political agenda, with a role that is no longer limited to serving exclusively the internal interests of the State. With Biden, the United States is once again playing a role in the Balkan region[1]. The President has decided to return as a protagonist with a foreign policy that will work alongside the European Union in the Balkans, in order to stem the power of China and Russia, which have played an increasing role in the region in recent years.
The lack of US leadership on climate change and international trade has created a gap, leaving space for other ambitious global powers. This lack of leadership has also been felt in the regional politics of the Balkans, a region that in many ways remains in the shadow of the wars of the 1990s, and currently, three major regional issues (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia) have the potential to undermine the region’s path to ‘normality’. Because of these three problems in the region, Russia’s increasing activities and Europe’s relative hesitation to speed up the integration process have recently urged the United States to re-engage in Balkan regional politics[2].
By moving away from the Trumpian “America first” paradigm, the Western Balkans region is once again an important player for the United States to invest in as it joins the European Union in its efforts to make this area prosper and as “Western” as possible. Taking advantage of the Euro-Atlantic absence in recent years, China and Russia have had a chance to establish themselves on the territory of the Western Balkans, which is a very strategic geopolitical spot. The Balkan region, due to its particular heterogeneity and its geographical position that makes it a crossroads between the West and the East, has always been an attractive geopolitical area of interest for several world powers. The region is a centre of interest for China, which wants to see the realisation of the New Silk Road project[3], and for Russia, which wants to limit the power and expansion of the European Union by incorporating the Balkans into a Slavic cultural and influence area[4].
In recent years, we have seen in the Balkans a propensity for regional leaders to distract populations from necessary reforms, playing on issues of emotional impact and riding on unresolved problems of the last three decades, rather than addressing the more immediate needs of citizens. This has resulted in the process of EU enlargement to the region being slowed down and the intervention of the US and European institutions has often been necessary to put the actions of local leaders and their opponents back on track. At a press conference on 8 June 2021, the United States announced its commitment to fighting corruption in the Western Balkans and its engagement in ensuring stability and security in the region to provide a solid and prosperous democracy. An Executive Order was also established to sanction those individuals who attempt to destabilise the order of the region by undermining democratic institutions and the rule of law or by violating human rights[5].
A highly precarious situation in the Balkan region is undoubtedly that between Serbia and Kosovo, where there seems to be no agreement in sight that would lead to a conflictual resolution between the two countries. Maintaining the position of Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, protecting Kosovo’s independence and territorial integrity, and supporting liberal democracy in the Balkans give the Biden administration an opportunity to reposition U.S. foreign policy in the region in a way that is bipartisan and oriented to serve long-term U.S. interests[6]. although the Balkans are not on Biden’s list of foreign policy priorities, in fact, involvement in the region is functional to achieving collateral goals such as avoiding leaving too much room for China and encouraging as much as possible the Western Balkans’ path towards the European Union.
[1] Oxford Analytica. “Biden will push rule of law in Central-Eastern Europe.” Emerald Expert Briefings oxan-db (2020).
[2] Bieber, F. and Tzifakis, N. (2019). The Western Balkans as a chessboard? Myths, realities and policy options
[3] Manocchi, Alessandro. Nodi di seta. La globalizzazione lungo la Nuova Via della Seta. BS thesis. Università Ca’Foscari Venezia, 2018.
[4] Samokhvalov, Vsevolod. “Russia in the Balkans.” Insight Turkey 21.2 (2019): 189-210.
[5] https://www.state.gov/the-stability-and-security-of-the-western-balkans/
[6] https://cepa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/CEPA-Serbia-Kosovo-5.10.21-V2.pdf
By The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
