Stoltenberg promises: NATO will do everything to ensure stability in the Balkans

(Patria) - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed concern over rising tensions in the Western Balkans region, and confirmed the Alliance's readiness to do everything to ensure security in the region.

- What we see there is that tensions are rising. Increased tensions and inflammatory rhetoric in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We have seen serious violent incidents in Kosovo, including an attack on NATO peacekeeping forces. 93 soldiers were injured, and some of them suffered serious injuries.

We also saw the attack in the village of Banjska - Stoltenberg stated on the eve of the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Alliance member states.

According to him, NATO will do everything necessary to maintain or ensure stability in the region, as it is important not only for the Western Balkans but also for the whole of Europe.

Stoltenberg's statements come after his visit to the Western Balkans, where he met with top officials and expressed concern about Russian influence in the region.

Foreign ministers of NATO countries will discuss at the upcoming two-day meeting in Brussels the possibilities of a more permanent increase in soldiers within the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

Since the attack on the village of Banjska, which occurred on September 24, NATO has increased its presence in Kosovo with a thousand additional soldiers.

Ministers will discuss whether this increase will now be long-term, and the need for additional military capacities for the soldiers of this peacekeeping mission, reports RSE.

The discussion in NATO, which will be dedicated to the Western Balkans, will also be joined by the High Representative of the European Union for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.