PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday denounced Russia’s hybrid assaults in opposition to democracies, saying the European Union is preventing each day to debunk misinformation.
Von der Leyen was in Kosovo as a part of a visit this week to aspiring EU member states within the Western Balkans to guarantee them that EU enlargement stays a precedence for the 27-nation bloc.
Von der Leyen denounced Russia’s efforts “to destabilize these democracies,” including that Brussels works to unveil propaganda “to the good thing about a complete area.”
“It’s attainable for us to face up with the reality and with transparency and with very clear messaging. So right here we’re actually countering a hybrid assault that Russia is main in opposition to democracies,” she mentioned at a information convention within the capital, Pristina.
Von der Leyen got here to Kosovo from neighboring Serbia, which has shut ties to Russia and has refused to affix worldwide sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
She didn’t point out the 13-year previous EU-led dialogue to normalize ties between Serbia and its former province, Kosovo, as a substitute specializing in the bloc’s efforts to advertise the area’s economic system.
Kosovo-Serbia ties stay tense, even 25 years after NATO’s 78-day bombing marketing campaign in 1999 that ended a battle between Serbian authorities forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 13,000 folks lifeless, primarily ethnic Albanians. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, which Belgrade has not acknowledged.
Final 12 months EU officers provided a 6-billion-euro (about $6.5 billion) development plan to the Western Balkan international locations in an effort to double the area’s economic system over the subsequent decade and speed up their efforts to affix the bloc. That help is contingent on reforms that may deliver their economies in step with EU guidelines.
The Western Balkan international locations — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at completely different phases of their purposes for EU membership. The international locations have been pissed off by the gradual tempo of the method, however Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has propelled European leaders to push the six to affix the bloc.
The Fee on Wednesday authorised the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a inexperienced mild from EU member states. That was a key step to permit funds underneath the expansion plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.
Von der Leyen’s journey concludes with a go to to Montenegro.
