While Europe's attention has been focused on Ukraine, tensions are rising in the Western Balkans. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy sees Russian interference here. This is reported by Politico, reports UNN.
Details
According to the publication, the UK calls the Western Balkans "another hot spot", and as the situation escalates, the country is pushing for all six countries in the region to join the EU in order to counter Russia's influence.
At a time when there is a war in Europe, and we see the long arm of Russian interference in the region, you would be a fool not to pay attention to the Western Balkans, where there are still legacy problems that have yet to be overcome.
It is noted that foreign policy experts and ministers fear that the Kremlin will try to exploit deeply entrenched ethnic and religious tensions to fuel new unrest in the Balkans, strengthening Russia's own interests and creating even more problems on the European Union's doorstep.
Putin's interests here are to keep the region destabilized. It is in his interest to keep the countries of the Western Balkans on edge, to have a destabilized population and to wage cyber and hybrid warfare.
As of today, the status of candidate countries for EU membership is held by North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kosovo, whose independence is not recognized by five EU member states, is considered a potential candidate for membership.
"Right now, they need to move forward, or they will continue to be a playground for Russia," one British official told the publication on condition of anonymity.
Let us remind you
The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense stated that Russia seeks to restore the empire along the lines of the USSR with the countries of the Warsaw Pact, and the next targets may be Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria.