Popescu-Zamfir: The US and the EU should act preventively to stop the opening of a new hotspot in the Balkans

Founder and Director of the Global Focus Center, Oana Popescu-Zamfir, assessed that due to the global situation and geopolitical conflicts, the operational capacity of the United States and the EU in the Balkans might decrease and that the international community must act preventively to stop the opening of a new hotspot and the emergence of another crisis in the region.

Popescu-Zamfir highlights that the political will to address the outstanding issues in the Balkans remains strong, and the US and the EU are striving to resolve the problems in Kosovo.

"It is a very sad fact that the Western Balkans is becoming one of the many problems we face today. I believe that, due to the global situation, the operational capacity of the US and the EU in the field may be diminishing. However, on the other hand, I do not think that political will is diminishing. I increasingly hear voices advocating for the resolution of all these issues," Popescu-Zamfir said in an interview with Kosovo Online at the Belgrade Security Forum.

She says that there might not be the capacity to address multiple issues simultaneously, but she warns that there are many components that contribute to the creation of an all-encompassing crisis.

"There is indeed a risk of conflict escalation and hotspots emerging in this region and the Balkans. That is why the US and the EU should act proactively and preventively to avoid a situation where they have to deal with the consequences of crises that have already occurred," Popescu-Zamfir concluded.