Savkovic: Military grouping is not good for the Western Balkans

Although the signed cooperation documents between Albania, Croatia, and Kosovo on one side, and Serbia and Hungary on the other, are not actual military alliances, such military grouping of Western Balkan countries is not good because it could lead to future confrontations, Marko Savkovic, senior advisor at the ISAC Fund, told Kosovo Online.

"These are not real military alliances. One thing is a declaration, and another is an agreement that builds upon existing, developed bilateral military cooperation. If we were to look for the background, I would say this is about bringing together actors who think similarly, who view the region we live in similarly, politically and even ideologically. In the case of Serbia and Hungary, they are close," Savkovic said.

According to him, the military agreement between Albania, Croatia, and Kosovo forced Belgrade and Budapest to respond in a similar manner.

"It is obviously serious enough that it pushed Belgrade and Budapest to move closer together. So, they made public an agreement that perhaps was not initially planned for such publicity, and in that way sent a message to the other side," Savkovic believes.

He does not consider such military groupings to be good for the region.

"It is certainly not good for the region, because it gives the impression of a grouping that could tomorrow lead to some form of confrontation. And the statements that these agreements are not directed against anyone, unfortunately, do not seem convincing to either side," Savkovic emphasized.

Commenting on NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's statement that the Alliance has nothing to do with these agreements, Savkovic said that is true, despite most of the signatory countries being NATO members.

"NATO really has nothing to do with this. If we are talking about the declaration of the three parties, it includes Pristina, or Kosovo, which several NATO members do not recognize. Furthermore, NATO does not interfere; these are internal matters of its member states, specifically Croatia and Albania, which decide how they will conduct their defense policy, to some extent independently from NATO. And that especially applies to Serbia, which constantly proclaims its military neutrality," the analyst stated.

On the other hand, Hungary, despite being a NATO member, is an outlier.

"It is a country that pursues a foreign policy which, I would say, differs quite a bit from mainstream thinking and policymaking in the West today," Savkovic concluded.