The return of US attention to the Western Balkans region is not only good for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also for the entire southeast of Europe, said Chairman of the Joint Committee on Defence and Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sifet Podzic, referring to the recently approved National Defence Authorization Act.

The Act contains a section dedicated to the Western Balkans, which calls for increased “military-to-military cooperation and engagements” in the Western Balkans due to concerns about long-term stability and security in the region, where “ethnic tensions, economic challenges, and malign outside influences” contribute to instability.

“”I think that the US Congress has understood that they have to come back and finish the job, as it will not work like this,” Podzic told N1.

“After all, old lady Europe has shown during the 1992-1995 war that she cannot deal with the problem of the Western Balkans and she is also showing that now during a time of piece as well,” he said.

Podzic said that Serbia’s leadership needs to reveal two difficult decisions Serbia needs to take to its citizens, one of them being that Kosovo is an independent country, and the other one that “in such global relations, there are no neutral countries, but that they have to allign into a union to which their territory belongs.”

The Act also mentions “the Russian Federation’s intensifying efforts to assert its influence in the Western Balkans”.

“The committee is also concerned about Russian information operations in the Balkans including propaganda and efforts to highlight lingering ethnic tensions,” the Act states.

Partnerships between the US and countries in the Western Balkans are “vital to increase security, stability, and prosperity in the region,” the Act states, adding that it encourages European partners and allies of the US to strengthen relationships in the region.

The US has not yet revealed in what way this “military-to-military” cooperation with regional countries will be implemented.

Podzic thinks that it is most likely that it will be realized through modernization of the Armed Forced of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and through the acceleration of Bosnia’s path toward full NATO membership.