The White House published the National Security Strategy (NSS) in November this year, outlining the United States’ national security priorities.
In this document, which will be submitted to Congress, the U.S. also details its broader policy toward Europe and where its priorities should be focused.
In the summarized points for Europe, the White House calls on European nations to “stand on their own feet and function as a group of sovereign, like-minded states that take primary responsibility for their own defense, without being dominated by any hostile power.”
Europe is also urged to support the “building of healthy nations in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe through trade ties, arms sales, political cooperation, and cultural and educational exchanges.”
This part of the NSS has been analyzed in the context of developments in the Western Balkans by Bosnian analyst Adi Cerimagic and Dutch MEP Thijs Reuten.
Cerimagic states:
“It will become increasingly difficult and ultimately impossible for the United States to continue working within or supporting the existing framework of EU integration and enlargement in the region. This also affects the implementation of agreements underpinning the regional order established after the 1990s, from the Dayton and Paris Agreements, to the Ahtisaari Plan, and the Prespa and Ohrid agreements.”
In countries such as Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Kosovo, he notes that some political actors already prefer the Trump-style approach of quick but fragile solutions.
“For those who wish to sabotage, this creates space to advance historical agendas that challenge the post-1990s order,” he adds.
“The only way for the European Union to remain relevant, preserve the post-1990s order, protect its interests in the region, fulfill its own promises, and significantly increase its engagement with the Western Balkans,” he concludes, “is through stronger and more consistent involvement.”
Meanwhile, Reuten emphasized that for peace and stability in Europe, it is essential that the new U.S. strategy be viewed through the lens of the Western Balkans.
“Even here, U.S. interests are not served by this strategy, and we have no alternative but to intensify our joint European efforts,” Reuten said.
