July 24, 2023
The US Is Indispensable in the Western Balkans — for Now
This June marked twenty years since the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit, where EU leaders declared that the “future of the Balkans is within the European Union.”
Yet two decades later, EU membership for all Western Balkan countries but Croatia remains elusive, as the region struggles to overcome persistent ethnic tensions and implement necessary reforms for accession.
Active engagement from Washington now will allow the European Union to take over primary responsibility for the Balkans and lead without U.S. assistance in the future.
With EU enlargement back on the political agenda following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the West has an opportunity to revitalise its policy toward the Western Balkans. To capitalise on this renewed geopolitical momentum, greater leadership from the United States is key.
Read the full article from Euractiv.
More from CNAS
-
Domestic Russia: Security Services, the Economy, and Elections
Podcast
Today we are turning to domestic Russian politics, with Russia’s State Duma elections coming up September 18th through the 20th. The elections are taking place in a more uncer...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Sep 11, ’26 Washington Roundtable
Congressional Testimony
Jim Townsend, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joins the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast to discuss the latest on the war in Ukraine,...
By Jim Townsend
-
What America’s Adversaries and Allies Hope to Gain at the U.N. General Assembly
Commentary
This article was originally published in War on the Rocks. This year’s U.N. General Assembly officially opened on Tuesday, Sept. 8. The annual gathering gives diplomats and le...
By Nicholas Lokker
-
A Report Card for Europe’s Defense Industry
Podcast
As the war in Ukraine rages on, Ukraine has struggled this summer with a munitions shortage. With U.S. supplies strained by the war with Iran, European governments are having ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
