Foreign Affairs Committee on June 2nd, 2026

[Gallit Dobner]

I apologize. Maybe I misunderstood the question. I thought it was a more general question about China's economic strategy. Pardon me if I misunderstood the question.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

What whole-of-government plan is Global Affairs Canada implementing to counter non-transparent economic statecraft? That was the question.

[Gallit Dobner]

Pardon me. Do you mean in the western Balkans?

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

I mean in the Indo-Pacific, in the western Balkan nations.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

To be fair to the member, she referenced the government's Indo-Pacific strategy comments about China, and then pivoted from there to ask how the witnesses view Chinese activities in the western Balkans.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Yes, that is correct.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Okay. I think that's within scope.

[Gallit Dobner]

Is the question about how the Government of Canada views China's activities in the western Balkans?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

That's correct.

[Gallit Dobner]

Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate the scoping here.

I think I mentioned earlier that China is active in the western Balkans, as it is around the globe. It has, in the western Balkans in particular, a lot of economic interest. Canada has economic interest vis-à-vis China, and we collaborate with China in certain ways. It is certainly up to the western Balkans to choose to collaborate with China.

Historically, China has been in a position to provide development financing to countries that hasn't been available to them from other countries, so thinking about how you provide countries in the western Balkans with options is important. How we can help them diversify their sources of financing is an important thing we think about and something we need to sharpen our pencils on.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Are we coordinating with NATO allies and actively promoting transparent western alternatives so that the Euro-Atlantic integration succeeds for every country in the Balkans?

[Gallit Dobner]

That's a great question.

Absolutely. As we mentioned already, three of the countries in the western Balkans are already members of NATO, and two of them have a partnership with NATO. We saw military exercises for the first time between Serbia and NATO just last week. Canada played a role there as well.

We absolutely work with our fellow NATO allies to promote integration.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

The western Balkans have emerged as a significant vector for foreign-directed hybrid interference—particularly by Russia—combining cyber-operations, disinformation and the exploitation of local governments and ethnic vulnerabilities, alongside the activities of transnational organized crime networks that are increasingly incorporating sophisticated cybercrime capabilities.

To what extent does Canada assess the region as a staging ground or platform for cyber-attacks, hybrid operations or criminal enterprises that could directly or indirectly threaten Canadian national security, critical infrastructure, democratic institutions or economic interests? What diplomatic capacity-building, intelligence-sharing and law enforcement co-operation initiatives are Canadian missions in the Balkans undertaking in coordination with our Five Eyes partners to strengthen resilience in the region and to mitigate spillover risks to Canada?

[Gallit Dobner]

Those were big questions with lots to unpack.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

They were big questions. I'm running out of time.

[Gallit Dobner]

Yes, transnational crime is an issue in the region. Yes, foreign interference is an issue in the region. Yes, cybersecurity is an issue in the region.

I would note some of the comments I made earlier about the capacity building and programming that Canada has put in place. Whether it's through military co-operation and training, through our Canada fund for local initiatives, which is available through missions, or through our peace operations funding, we are trying to address all of these vectors. We do it in partnership with other like-minded countries in the region. I would just point to some of that programming.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you. That's perfect.

We are next going to hear from Braedon Clark.

You have five minutes.

[Braedon Clark, Liberal, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here this afternoon. It's been very interesting.

Ms. Dobner, you talked in your opening statement about stability of the region relative to recent history, and that's wonderful. I was curious about the domestic political situation in Kosovo. On Sunday, I believe they'll be having their third parliamentary election in less than a year, which is a lot. I'm curious if you could give us your take on that and what your sense is of the situation there.

This is for whoever is best situated to address the question.

[Gallit Dobner]

I'll turn it over to Ambassador Blitt, who's definitely best positioned to respond.

[Jessica Blitt]

Thank you. I'm happy to do so.

This Sunday will be the third election since February of last year. The two preceding elections have been free and fair. They've been well-run. In some ways, it's a sign of democracy that it's finding its way.

Institutions are continuing to grow and build. Some institutional stability is something the international community, including Canada, would like to see in Kosovo in order to have a stable partner on the ground. The way they've gone through these electoral processes has been fully in line with their constitution. A number of situations have gone to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court has decreed one way or another, and that has led to action.

I'm a little “glass half full”, or at least I try to be. Obviously, Kosovo needs to have a stable government to be able to move forward, and to move forward as a strong partner for the Belgrade-Priština dialogue, which is what we want to see for the overall Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the country.

They have been following their constitutional processes and electoral processes. We're hoping that will continue. We expect to have successful elections this weekend, and then we'll be able to move forward from there.

[Braedon Clark, Liberal, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, NS]

I really appreciate that. That's an excellent answer.

All of us around this table know that democracy is messy sometimes and unpredictable, and that's okay. That's also a sign of resiliency, so I appreciate that.

Ms. Dobner, you also mentioned that the presence of organized crime networks in the region obviously has a pernicious effect on the region in general.

I'm curious. In your view, are those groups strictly non-state actors, or are there ties to foreign states as another means of influence through those criminal organizations?

[Gallit Dobner]

Pardon me. You mean to foreign states outside of the....

[Braedon Clark, Liberal, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, NS]

I mean outside of the region.

[Gallit Dobner]

Okay, outside of the region.