EU High Representative Josep Borrell said the EU is worried that the crisis in Ukraine may spread to the Western Balkans, Georgia, and Moldova.
On Sunday, February 27, Borrell gave a press conference to media following a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers. The Council approved a set of measures to help Ukraine, including weapon assistance, to impose sanctions against Russia, and to stop the spread of misinformation.
During his speech, Borrell said that “[The EU] is worried about what might happen in the whole region. Russia is not going to stop in Ukraine. And Russian influence can start working in the neighbor countries, Moldova and Georgia, and also will have an impact on the Western Balkans. So we have to pay a lot of attention to what is happening there.”
“We have to remain vigilant on the impact of the crisis on the Western Balkans and look what’s happening on the position, on the alignment of the countries of the Balkans, of our candidates to the European Union, their alignment with our foreign policy.”
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most countries in the Western Balkan have aligned themselves with the European Union, condemning Russia and imposing sanctions against it.
The sole outlier so far has been Serbia, Russia’s strongest ally in the region. While Serbia has stated that it supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity, it has not condemned Russia’s invasion.
Last week, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani raised concerns that Russia will use Serbia to destabilize the Western Balkans.
