Russia warns against NATO expansion in the Western Balkans

Russian diplomat Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the OSCE in Vienna, has warned that Western efforts are attempting to pull Serbia and Republika Srpska into NATO's influence. Speaking at an OSCE meeting on military security and arms control, Zhdanova claimed that anti-Serbian military structures are forming in the Balkans, specifically citing pacts such as Zagreb-Tirana-Priština and Zagreb-Ljubljana as factors of regional instability.

Zhdanova asserted that NATO is intensifying the militarization of the Western Balkans and attempting to undermine the state architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina established by the Dayton Agreement. She characterized claims of Serbian threats to regional peace as mere excuses to strengthen these military blocs.

Furthermore, the diplomat accused Western powers of attempting to involve Balkan nations in questionable weapon supply schemes for Ukraine by bypassing national authorities. She stated that the EU and NATO are working to exclude Russia and China from the region to prevent further cooperation between Balkan states and Moscow or Beijing.