Monday, 29 September 2014 18:49 <\/p>\n
SARAJEVO: NATO's potential expansion to the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro could be seen as a \"provocation\", Russia's foreign minister was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview published on Monday. <\/p>\n
Moscow has opposed any NATO extension to former communist areas of eastern and southeastern Europe, part of a competition for geo-strategic influence since the end of the Cold War that sits at the heart of the current conflict in ex-Soviet Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia share an ambition to join the Western military alliance, following in the footsteps of Albania and ex-Yugoslav Croatia, which became members in 2009. Asked about the integration of the three into NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Bosnian daily Dnevni Avaz: \"With regards to the expansion of NATO, I see it as a mistake, even a provocation in a way. <\/p>\n
\"This is, in a way, an irresponsible policy that undermines the determination to build a system of equal and shared security in Europe, equal for everyone regardless of whether a country is a member of this or that bloc.\" Russia has energy interests in the Balkans and historical ties with the Slavs of the region, many of them Orthodox Christian like the Russians. <\/p>\n
But Moscow's influence has waned as the countries of the former Yugoslavia seek to join the European mainstream with membership of the EU and NATO. <\/p>\n
The tiny Adriatic republic of Montenegro appears closest to NATO accession. <\/p>\n
Bosnia's bid is hostage to ethnic bickering that has slowed reforms, while Macedonia remains blocked by a long-running dispute with neighbouring Greece over the name of the landlocked country. <\/p>\n
Only Serbia, perhaps Russia's closest ally in the region, is not actively pursuing membership of NATO given political sensitivities lingering since the alliance's 1999 air war against then-strongman Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to halt a wave of atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. <\/p>\n
Lavrov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Serbia in mid-October to mark the 70th anniversary of Belgrade's liberation from Nazi occupation by Yugoslav Partisan fighters and the Soviet army. <\/p>\n
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The rest is here: <\/p>\n
NATO's planned Balkan expansion a provocation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Monday, 29 September 2014 18:49 SARAJEVO: NATO's potential expansion to the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro could be seen as a \"provocation\", Russia's foreign minister was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Moscow has opposed any NATO extension to former communist areas of eastern and southeastern Europe, part of a competition for geo-strategic influence since the end of the Cold War that sits at the heart of the current conflict in ex-Soviet Ukraine. Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia share an ambition to join the Western military alliance, following in the footsteps of Albania and ex-Yugoslav Croatia, which became members in 2009. Continue reading