TIRANA, November 17 – “Keep your mind on the Balkans. Believe me I have information that Russia has a plan. First the Middle East and the second distraction will be the Balkans.”
This is the warning issued on Thursday by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenski, about Russia’s attempts to incite war in the Western Balkans, the region where Albania is also a part. The European Commission spokesman, Peter Stano, confirmed this Friday that the danger is real.
“We are in line on this with the Ukrainian president and we know that Russia is doing everything to spread discontent, political instability, foreign interference, news hoaxes. That is why we are increasing cooperation and assistance to our partners in the Western Balkans to face this form of hybrid threat and foreign intervention,” Stano said.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, also acknowledged the risk on Thursday during a visit to Croatia.
According to Michel, this is the reason why we are fully convinced that progress on the EU path is extremely important for the stability and peace of the region. /argumentum.al
