Thirty years after Bosnia peace agreement, Assembly calls for renewed focus on Western Balkans

DAYTON, OHIO – NATO nations must step up their engagement in the Western Balkans where peace remains fragile and malign forces threaten stability 30 years after the agreement that ended fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina, lawmakers from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly said Sunday. 

“As Europe already struggles with the repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine, a resurgence of conflict in the Western Balkans would be a major catastrophe for European security,” said a draft report presented at the NATO PA’s Spring Session. “Preventing such a scenario must be a top priority for Euro-Atlantic policy makers.” 

The Assembly draws together members of parliament from across the 32-nation Alliance and partners, including from the Western Balkans. It is meeting in Dayton, Ohio, where the agreement to stop the three and a half-year Bosnian War was negotiated in 1995. 

Lawmakers welcomed economic progress and democratic consolidation in the region since then, which has helped Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia join NATO. 

However, the report drafted by Slovak lawmaker Tomas Valasek expressed deep concerns about continued ethnic and political divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the threat to regional stability posed by persistent tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.  

Outside interference exacerbates these concerns. “Moscow’s support for nationalist movements and destabilising actors obstructs regional security and undermines democratic progress,” warned the draft report, which was debated in the Assembly’s Political Committee (PC). 

“At the same time, China’s growing economic presence in the region raises concerns about long-term dependencies,” the report added. 

Cautioning that “recent escalations in the region may be more severe and complex than those of previous decades,” the report urged sustained and coordinated engagement from NATO and the European Union “to counter malign influence, strengthen governance and reinforce regional stability.” 

That should include expanded intelligence-sharing to counter Russian subversion, together with enhanced regional cyber defences and strategic communication to discredit anti-Western narratives.  

Allies should deploy diplomatic and political pressure to dissuade leaders of the Republika Srpska entity from undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina; and ensure that NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping force is able to deter potential inter-ethnic escalations in Kosovo. 

Several high-level speakers joined the discussion, including former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who played a leading role in negotiating the Dayton Agreement, U.S. Ambassador to North Macedonia Angela Aggeler, Bosnian Ambassador to the U.S. Sven Alkalaj and North Macedonian Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski.

“The region must be forward-looking, we must have a higher level of civic engagement, and we must work to create civil societies in the Western Balkans,” Mucunski told the PC. “Too often the Western Balkans has been seen as a region of fragility but, on the contrary, it is now a region of huge potential.” 

Besides the Balkans, the NATO PA’s four days of talks in Dayton covered a wide range of political and security issues, focusing on the war in Ukraine and the urgency of adjusting Alliance deterrence and defence in the face of fast-moving geopolitical change.  

Two extensive reports debated by the Assembly’s Science and Technology Committee (STC) examined ways to enhance NATO’s protection of space-based assets, and the growing importance of military drones, as underscored by the war in Ukraine. 

“Uncrewed systems have become a ubiquitous feature of contemporary warfare,” said Luxembourg legislator Sven Clement, in his draft report. “Allies should further advance the streamlining and inclusion of uncrewed systems in all aspects of defence planning.”  

Slovene member Zan Mahnic urged Allies to boost protection of space infrastructure, which is increasingly vital for civilian, commercial, scientific and defence sectors in NATO nations. 

“NATO members need to actively address existing vulnerabilities, amongst others by increasing space domain awareness,” his report noted. “Allies need to plan for scenarios of adversarial action and space and map potential responses in accordance with international law.” 

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The Assembly, though institutionally separate from NATO, serves as an essential link between NATO and the parliaments of the NATO nations. It provides greater transparency of NATO policies and fosters better understanding of the Alliance’s objectives and missions among legislators and citizens of the Alliance. Throughout 2025, the Assembly celebrates 70 years of parliamentary diplomacy. 

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