Sarajevo – NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made a two-day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo where he met with the main leaders of the two countries. Both Sarajevo and Pristina are still closely linked to the Atlantic Alliance whose military intervention in the 1990s was decisive in ending the conflict that broke out in the area of former Yugoslavia.
The trip of Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO, to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo had as its main purpose to confirm the key role of the Atlantic alliance in the two countries, both recently shaken by political tensions. The visit of the Secretary General and former Dutch Prime Minister to the Balkan countries lasted two days during which Rutte met with the members of the tripartite presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komsić, Denis Bećirović and Željka Cvijanović, the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani and the current interim Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
The visit to Sarajevo
“Three decades after the Dayton Agreement, NATO remains firmly committed to the stability and security of this region. Our support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina remains intact.” This was the opening speech given by Rutte in the Bosnian capital in the presence of the three members of the presidency. Words clearly referring to the events related to Milorad Dodik, the current president of Republika Srpska, the Serbian entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian Serb leader was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-month ban from holding public office at the end of February on charges of “disobedience” to the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt.
A few days later, Dodik himself approved several decrees – laws to prevent the activities of the Federal Court and Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Judicial Council and the State Agency for Security and Protection (SIPA) in the territory of the Serbian entity. These measures were considered by many experts and even members of the central government as an attempted “coup d’état” that opened a crisis comparable to that of 1992.
Rutte also referred in his speech to the early 1990s and the bloody conflict that affected the entire region. The Dayton Agreement, which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina that lasted from 1992 to 1995, according to Rutte, may not be perfect, but it remains: “the cornerstone of peace in this country and must be respected; and we support the Office of the High Representative; any action that undermines Dayton, the constitutional order or national institutions is unacceptable”.
On Operation Althea, known as the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), Rutte highlighted the work carried out by the peacekeeping mission which in his opinion is fully prepared to maintain a safe and stable environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mission, whose executive mandate is divided between the UN Security Council and the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), has also been temporarily reinforced in recent days with the arrival of additional troops, armored vehicles and four helicopters. The soldiers involved are around 400 from Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia.
Before leaving for the second leg of his trip to the region, the NATO Secretary General, in office from 1 October 2024, also met with students from the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo and East Sarajevo. In his speech to a packed hall, Rutte stressed that the country has a historic opportunity to overcome differences and embark on the path to peace and prosperity within Europe.
The second stop in Kosovo
The second capital visited by Rutte during his trip to the Balkans was Pristina, where he met with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and visited the base of the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission. Once again, the message sent was one of full support for dialogue between the parties, with reference to the difficult relations between Kosovo and Serbia. According to Rutte, stability in the region depends on the choices of leaders who must prefer the use of diplomacy to that of violence: “this is the only way to resolve urgent issues and guarantee stability in the future and ensure that the rights of all communities are respected and protected”.
According to Rutte, for this process to proceed, both parties must “show flexibility and make the necessary compromises”. On the role of the Atlantic Alliance, Rutte added: “NATO will continue to support the process of normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. We have supported peace and stability in the Western Balkans for 30 years. Normalization brings security, investment and stability to everyone in the region”.
Relations between Belgrade and Pristina, almost two years after the Ohrid agreements of 2023, do not seem to have improved significantly and indeed both countries are experiencing moments of political uncertainty. In Kosovo, the latest parliamentary elections did not give Prime Minister Kurti an absolute majority, making difficult negotiations between political parties necessary to form a government, while in Serbia the most important and widespread protests against President Aleksandar Vučić are underway, making it difficult to foresee short-term progress on the dialogue front between the two countries.
Rutte’s trip between Bosnia and Kosovo confirms the role that the Atlantic Alliance still intends to play in the region, even if the United States led by Donald Trump were to withdraw or cut its funding. A role that of NATO in the Balkans that was crucial in putting an end to the wars of the 1990s and that today wants to be confirmed, also in response to recent developments in the conflict in Ukraine and the potential repercussions in the region.
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