The United States (US) is preparing the Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act, which will be an integral part of one of their most important annual regulations – the National Security Act for 2026, reveals Nedeljnik in its new issue available on newsstands starting Thursday.
In this draft bill, which has already passed the Senate and is expected to be adopted by Congress, one of the key provisions concerns “corruption among political leaders.”
It explicitly states:
“Corruption, including that among key political leaders, continues to affect the Western Balkans and remains one of the greatest obstacles to further economic and political development in the region.”
Furthermore, it says that the Secretary of State should, among other things, develop an initiative to “combat political corruption, especially in the judiciary, independent election oversight bodies, and public procurement processes.”
If the Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act passes the U.S. Congress and Senate, clears all necessary committees, and finally receives President Trump’s approval, the United States would effectively adopt a law committing its foreign policy not to advocate any exchange of territories, secessions, or other forms of redrawing borders along ethnic lines between Kosovo and Serbia or anywhere else in the Western Balkans — such as, for instance, the secession of Republika Srpska.
This is stated in Section 11 of the mentioned act, titled “Relations between Kosovo and Serbia.” In this penultimate section of the bill, submitted to Congress last week by its sponsor, Congressman William Keating (Democrat from Massachusetts), it is first noted that the path toward normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina was agreed upon on February 27, 2023, with the support of the European Union.
The “new” Washington policy
This agreement, known to the public as the so-called Ohrid Agreement, sparked much debate — not because of its nature, but because the president, who was the chief negotiator in this case, claimed that “nothing was signed.” As experts have pointed out, the agreement is valid in both the EU and US agendas, even without the said signature.
The bill also states that Serbia and Kosovo should “make immediate progress in implementing” this agreement. Once that happens, the bill proposes bilateral talks between Serbia and Kosovo, concrete initiatives to strengthen trade and investment “in both countries,” and continued U.S. support toward reaching an overall final agreement.
The section related to “redrawing borders” in the Western Balkans begins with the following words:
“It is the policy of the government of the United States not to pursue any policy that advocates the exchange of territories, secession, or any other form of redrawing borders along ethnic lines in the Western Balkans as a means of arbitrating disagreements between national states in the region.” It goes on to say that U.S. authorities will instead support democracies in these countries as a way to prevent a return to ethnic conflicts that once characterized the region.
Investigation of Russian and Chinese spies
The final section of the draft bill deals exclusively with Russian and Chinese malign influence, operations, and campaigns in the Western Balkans. It begins with a request that, within no more than six months (180 days), the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and heads of other government agencies be required to prepare a report to Congress concerning Russian and Chinese malign influence in the region.
The activities under scrutiny include undermining democratic institutions, promoting political instability, and threatening American and NATO interests in the region. The bill then details how this report should look and specifies that it must contain the following elements: an assessment of Russia’s and China’s goals regarding malign influence, State Department activities aimed at countering these influences, and a list identifying every network, entity, and individual financially or operationally supporting malign campaigns that restrict freedom of speech or create barriers to democratic processes — including free and fair elections. It also calls for an investigation into how these entities and individuals carry out their tactics, what actions they have taken so far, where they have operated, and what capacities individual states have to resist such campaigns. Such reports would be classified as “confidential.”
Focus on economy and democracy
These two sections of the bill conclude the Act, which is largely dedicated to ways of intensifying economic cooperation between the U.S. and the Western Balkans, engaging youth, boosting cultural cooperation and exchange among countries, and enhancing cybersecurity.
The Act notes that corruption — including high-level political corruption — poverty, youth emigration, disinformation campaigns, and particularly the vulnerability of technological infrastructure, remain the region’s weak points. It also emphasizes dependence on Russian energy sources, fuel, and natural gas, and specifically references election irregularities from December 2023, previously noted by the Biden administration.
Therefore, the draft law calls on the U.S. to: encourage increased trade and investment between the U.S. and the Western Balkans; expand assistance for regional integration and strengthen economic cooperation with a special focus on women’s entrepreneurship and young entrepreneurs; work with allies and partners to promote the rule of law, energy diversification, economic and democratic reforms; and reduce poverty in the region.
A separate provision addresses the diversification of energy policy, reduction of dependence on Russian energy sources, and transition toward green energy.
MORE TOPICS:
“ROADS OF SERBIA” DENY THEMSELVES: The roads to Novi Sad will not be closed!
Source: Nova.rs, Nedeljnik; Foto: AFP