US policy in Balkan stays the same, despite uncertainties caused by Trump

The unfriendly behavior against NATO and traditional allies has increased the level of geopolitical uncertainty.

Florian Bieber from Balkan Insight says that in absence of a clear policy for Balkan from the Trump administration, controversial declarations of some congressmen have gain more weight, such as the one of Dana Rohrabacher, who said that Macedonai is not a proper country, and the one of Rand Paul, who opposed Montenegro’s NATO accession.

However, concerns have dropped down after the Senate supported Montenegro’s NATO accession, despite Russia’s efforts to block the process. Then US Deputy Assistant Secretary Hoyt Yee visited Balkan and marked progress in the region by convincing President Ivanov of Macedonia to end the political crisis, and by helping the Albanian majority and opposition come to a pre-electoral agreement.

“Even without commitment from the President, the USA are being more effective than the EU”, Balkan Insight says.

He adds that this success of America in Balkan shows that Washington’s policy in the region will continue through the method explained by President Obama as “hidden-hand politics”, which means that the USA will keep supporting the EU policy in Balkan to prevent crises and support the reform process.

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