NATO is closely working together with the European Union in the Western Balkans, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that the alliance is concerned about Russian influence in the region.

“We are working together with the European Union in the Western Balkans. It is extremely important, NATO has a history there. We helped to end two brutal ethnic wars, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. We have a military presence there, we work together with European Union’s Althea in BiH and we are closely monitoring the situation in the Western Balkans in general,” Stoltenberg told members of the European Parliament.

Stoltenberg said he met with the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, earlier on Wednesday and that NATO “follows the situation very closely.”

He added that NATO is “concerned about the presence of Russia and China” in the region.

Stoltenberg said that “there are serious challenges” in BiH.

“We are trying to help them strengthen their democratic institutions,” he said.