Jeanne Shaheen: Russia Seeks to Destabilize the Western Balkans, Serbia a “Transit Station”

US Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group, said in an interview with Radio Free Europe that Russia is interested in destabilizing the Western Balkans, which Moscow sees as a “potential second front”.

According to Shaheen, Serbia is seen by Moscow as a kind of “transit station” (“usputna stanica”). She stressed that the US must ensure Russia knows that American forces in the region are “on high alert and monitoring the situation”.

Speaking about concerns over Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the senator mentioned “the connection of Serbia and Serbs in Republika Srpska with Russia and the Russian interest in destabilizing the region”, adding that Russian hybrid warfare must be suppressed wherever possible.

A hearing in the Foreign Relations Committee also mentioned that Serbia served as a “transit station” for Russians who carried out the attack in Leipzig. In early September, Germany accused Russia of a “hybrid attack” with an explosives-laden drone that disrupted flights at Leipzig airport in early August.

NATO maintains forces in Kosovo (KFOR) and the EUFOR mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which form the main pillars of security in the region.

Source: Danas