Current:Home > MarketsNATO chief commits to Bosnia’s territorial integrity and condemns ‘malign’ Russian influence -WealthSpot
NATO chief commits to Bosnia’s territorial integrity and condemns ‘malign’ Russian influence
View
Date:2025-04-17 01:33:44
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — NATO supports Bosnia’s territorial integrity and is concerned by “malign foreign interference,” including by Russia, in the volatile Balkans region that went through a devastating war in the 1990s, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.
Sarajevo is the first stop on Stoltenberg’s tour of Western Balkan countries that will also include Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia.
“The Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “We are concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia.”
There are widespread fears that Russia is trying to destabilize Bosnia and the rest of the region and thus shift at least some world attention from its aggression on Ukraine.
Moscow is openly supporting the secessionist, pro-Russian Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik who has repeatedly called for the breakup of the country and joining the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia to neighboring Serbia.
“This threatens to undermine stability and hampers reform,” Stoltenberg said. “All political leaders must work to preserve unity, build national institutions and achieve reconciliation. This is crucial for the stability and the security of the country.”
NATO played a major role in ending the 1992-1995 Bosnian war and implementing a U.S.-sponsored peace plan that divided the country roughly into two highly autonomous regions, one controlled by the Bosnian Serbs and the other by Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslims, and Bosnian Croats.
“NATO has been committed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for years,” Stoltenberg said. “Your security matters for the Western Balkans region and it matters for Europe.”
The Bosnian Serb leadership has for years been blocking Sarajevo’s application for NATO membership, something also opposed by Russia.
Stoltenberg said that this should end.
“Every country has the right to choose its own security arrangements without foreign interference,” he said.
veryGood! (528)
Related
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Epstein's sex trafficking was aided by JPMorgan, a U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit says
- Abortion pills should be easier to get. That doesn't mean that they will be
- The U.S. job market is still healthy, but it's slowing down as recession fears mount
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- New York’s Heat-Vulnerable Neighborhoods Need to Go Green to Cool Off
- Maine lobster industry wins reprieve but environmentalists say whales will die
- Video: As Covid-19 Hinders City Efforts to Protect Residents From the Heat, Community Groups Step In
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Utilities Have Big Plans to Cut Emissions, But They’re Struggling to Shed Fossil Fuels
Ranking
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- 5 things to know about Southwest's disastrous meltdown
- Q&A: Why Women Leading the Climate Movement are Underappreciated and Sometimes Invisible
- Has Conservative Utah Turned a Corner on Climate Change?
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- A Black 'Wall Street Journal' reporter was detained while working outside a bank
- Solar Power Just Miles from the Arctic Circle? In Icy Nordic Climes, It’s Become the Norm
- From East to West On Election Eve, Climate Change—and its Encroaching Peril—Are On Americans’ Minds
Recommendation
House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
5 things to know about Southwest's disastrous meltdown
Fossil Fuel Advocates’ New Tactic: Calling Opposition to Arctic Drilling ‘Racist’
New York Times to pull the plug on its sports desk and rely on The Athletic
Average rate on 30
Jobs Friday: Why apprenticeships could make a comeback
Be on the lookout for earthworms on steroids that jump a foot in the air and shed their tails
How Buying A Home Became A Key Way To Build Wealth In America