NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the Western Balkans is of strategic importance and that NATO is increasing its support for Bosnia and Herzegovina in strengthening its defence capabilities, Anadolu Agency reported.

Stoltenberg met with Albanian President Bayram Begay at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, after which he spoke at a joint press conference.

Emphasizing the strategic importance of the Western Balkans for NATO, Stoltenberg said:

“We agreed on the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and the importance of NATO’s presence in the region, including our offices in Sarajevo and Belgrade. We are also increasing our support to Bosnia and Herzegovina in strengthening defence capacities. I welcome the progress achieved in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina with the mediation of the EU. I hope that constructive work will take place in the coming weeks. NATO strongly supports the stability and security of the Western Balkans. We know that we can count on the support of Albania in this regard”.

Noting that the Western Balkans is the scene of complex security events, Begay said that Russia poses a threat to the Western Balkans, but also to NATO.

He stated that they have been following the events in the northern part of Kosovo with concern in recent months, expressing his satisfaction with the continuation of the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo.

Stating that Kosovo has a vision of integration into the Euro-Atlantic family, Begay said that they consider the EU’s plan for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia to be positive and that NATO’s presence in the region alongside KFOR is an example of success.