Germany’s top diplomat says the Ukraine conflict shows the importance of ties between the EU and the Western Balkans, writes Deutsche Welle
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Thursday that more efforts were needed by her country and Bosnia-Herzegovina to bring the Balkan nation further into the EU fold in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a news conference with her Bosnian counterpart, Bisera Turkovic, in Sarajevo, Baerbock said the Ukraine conflict was proof that more rapprochement between the Western Balkans and the EU was needed.
“We want to live together in the European house,” said Baerbock, who is on a three-day trip to the region that will take her on to Kosovo, Serbia and Moldova.
Baerbock also warned of a possible destabilization by nationalist tendencies in the country, which was ravaged by war in the 1990s following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
“We, therefore, must and will stop those who seek to jeopardize the peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina for selfish reasons,” Baerbock said.
She said Germany and its partners would not permit any “erosion of the security situation.”
Baerbock added that Germany would only support those who were working to strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina, not those seeking to destabilize and weaken it.
