Garcevic Interviewed on Russian Influence in the Balkans
Ambassador Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed for a recent article on Russian allegations that the Balkans are on the verge of a new conflict between Serbs and Albanians.
Amb. Garcevic was quoted in a June 18, 2018 article by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) entitled “From Greater Serbia to Greater Albania, How Moscow Destabilizes the Balkans.”
Amb. Vesko Garcevic’s comments from the translated text of the article:
The idea of “Great Albania” really exists and there are people and politicians both in Albania and Kosovo who dream this dream. They believe that the eventual unification of all Albanians (including the two states) is a question of time. That being said, I’d like to draw attention to other similar great states projects that exist in the region. One of them is the idea of Greater Serbia which implies unification of all Serbs living in the Western Balkans including those who are now in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republic of Srpska) and Kosovo; another one is the project of Greater Croatia. The issue is highly politicized by both Albanians and Serbs. Some Albanian politicians are very supportive of the idea of Great Albania and promote it publicly whereas the leaders of the two states cautiously address this issue.
It’s risky and politically unacceptable to attribute this idea to someone though you don’t have strong evidence to prove your accusation. Good relations between Serbs and Albanians and Serbs and Croats are critical for the long-term stability in this part of Europe. It would be more useful and politically opportune from Russian side to promote dialog and conciliation among those nations not to drive wedges among them in order to provoke tensions and instability.
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Vesko Garcevic dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School.