Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the committee, for the invitation.
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your study on the security situation in the western Balkans, a region in which Canada has played an important role in supporting the transition from conflict to peace. While significant progress has been achieved, the region continues to face challenges that could undermine these gains.
Canada is a special place to me personally. During the war of 1999, when Serbian forces drove hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes, my own family was among those separated by violence and ethnic cleansing. Our grandparents got separated from us, but they found refuge in Canada, became Canadian citizens and lived the rest of their lives in dignity and peace in Canada. We are thankful to the Canadian people for that.
My principal assessment is straightforward. The western Balkans remains one of the most vulnerable geopolitical spaces in Europe, where unresolved bilateral disputes, external authoritarian influence and incomplete Euro-Atlantic integration continue to intersect. The region should therefore not be viewed as a post-conflict legacy issue but as an active component of European and transatlantic security.
Three developments deserve particular attention.
First, the post-Cold War political settlement in the Balkans remains a challenge. Serbia continues to reject Kosovo's independence, maintains close strategic relations with Russia and China, and seeks to preserve political influence across the region in the neighbouring countries.
Second, geopolitical competition is intensifying. Russia continues to exploit unresolved bilateral disputes and institutional vulnerabilities in the region, using regional tensions to challenge western cohesion and create strategic uncertainty.
Third, the credibility of the Euro-Atlantic integration process itself is increasingly being tested. When democratic reforms do not produce visible strategic outcomes, support for those reforms weakens and nationalist alternatives become more attractive.
Kosovo illustrates many of these challenges. Since declaring independence in 2008, it has built democratic institutions, aligned consistently with the European Union and NATO, and demonstrated a clear western orientation. However, it remains only partially integrated into the international system, is excluded from the United Nations by Russia's veto and faces additional obstacles because five EU and four NATO members have not recognized its independence.
Reducing geopolitical grey zones in the western Balkans requires a structured pathway towards Kosovo's membership in NATO. The Banjska attack in September 2023, carried out by a heavily armed criminal group under the control of the security structures of Serbia, demonstrated that the unfinished normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia continues to pose security risks and has highlighted the importance of credible deterrence and renewed political engagement in their dialogue process.
The border region offers another important lesson. Countries that undertake difficult democratic reforms must see tangible progress towards Euro-Atlantic integration. Otherwise, public confidence erodes, nationalist forces gain strength and the credibility of the western project itself is weakened. The future European integration of countries such as Albania and Montenegro therefore has significance beyond their borders; it will shape the strategic direction of the entire region in the years and decades to come.
From a Canadian perspective, the western Balkans should be approached through the broader framework of transatlantic security. Instability in the region has implications for NATO cohesion, European security, migration management, energy resilience and the credibility of the rules-based international order.
In this context, I would respectfully offer three policy recommendations.
First, Canada should actively support Kosovo's membership in NATO and encourage further international recognition of Kosovo among partners with which Canada maintains close relationships in the European Union, NATO and the Commonwealth.
Second, Canada should establish a regular Canada-western Balkans summit that brings together governments, parliamentarians, business leaders and civil society to ensure long-term Canadian engagement within the region.
Third, Canada should expand its economic footprint by encouraging greater involvement of its private sector in defence, energy and critical minerals. This will provide credible alternatives to authoritarian influence while creating new opportunities for Canadian businesses in a strategically important market.
Mr. Chair, the central strategic challenge in the western Balkans is not the presence of conflict but the persistence of uncertainty. History has shown us that a political vacuum invites external interference whereas credible pathways towards Euro-Atlantic integration strengthen democratic resilience and long-term stability.
Canada has played an important role in the western Balkans over the past three decades. It possesses both the credibility and the strategic interest to continue contributing to the stability of a region that remains essential for the future security architecture of Europe.
Thank you very much.