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00:00:00Dotic and political allies
00:00:01of the President have profited hundreds of thousands of
00:00:04dollars because
00:00:06of their connections
00:00:06with the administration. So as we address many important
00:00:10issues in
00:00:11the west western Balkans, from a continued US role in
00:00:14NATO's K4 to the importance of supporting EU and
00:00:18of NATO ascension for Western Balcan countries. I'm also hopeful that
00:00:22our witnesses can shed some light on these two decisions in Bosnia that
00:00:26clearly run counter to our interests.
00:01:01Chairman
00:01:01of self, ranking member kiding, distinguished sub-committee members and members
00:01:05of your teams, thank you for this opportunity to
00:01:09testify today on US policy in the western
00:01:12balcans. We appreciate congressional attention and
00:01:15travel to the region, including Mr. Chairman, your travel
00:01:19to the Western Balkans in May. The United
00:01:22of States seeks a stable, peaceful and prosperous
00:01:26Western Balkans that contributes to regional
00:01:29and global. We are pursuing positive
00:01:33relations with actors in the region to maintain
00:01:36stability, expand
00:01:39of economic
00:01:39of cooperation and counter threats that directly affect the United
00:01:42States. At the 30th anniversary commemoration
00:01:46of the dayton peace agreement, deputy secretary Landow of made
00:01:50state clear that the era
00:01:52of of externally imposed nation building is over.
00:01:55Instead, we urge local leaders to forge local solutions.
00:02:18of
00:02:22of
00:02:25of
00:03:00with our partners in the region to counter threats, including from Balkan
00:03:03criminal organizations that directly cooperate with western hemisphere
00:03:07cartels that threaten the United States. We
00:03:11pursue these objectives through sustained high-level engagement and
00:03:15use of all the tools at our disposal, including those enacted by
00:03:18Congress. We also expect European partners to carry a
00:03:22greater share
00:03:23of the regions security burden. For our Western Balkan NATO
00:03:26allies, this includes modernizing their militaries.
00:03:30and meeting NATO defense spending commitments and their capability
00:03:34commitments (nato
00:03:36in 3.0). The United States remains committed to
00:03:40Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty and territorial integrity and to the
00:03:44stability brought by the dayton agreement. Last year US
00:03:47diplomacy
00:03:49a resolved a long-running crisis, preserving the country's legal
00:03:52cohesion in constitutional order while securing the
00:03:56withdraw
00:03:57of the Republica Serbska's most anti-Dayton.
00:04:30and we are urging Kosovo's leaders to bring this process to conclusion in
00:04:34accordance with its constitution and court
00:04:36of rulings. the NATO led Kosovo force or
00:04:40K-4. Yes, it remains critical to maintaining safe and
00:04:44of secure environment in Kosovo, and it is supported by US forest
00:04:48contributions. In Serbia,
00:04:51in we
00:04:51of are advocating for the United States as the partner of choice to
00:04:54counter
00:04:55of adversarial influence. In July, we hosted the first ever US Serbia
00:04:59strategic. dialogue to advance energy,
00:05:02in defense, security
00:05:04of and commercial cooperation. engagement with this pivotal country
00:05:08in the regional balance will remain critical
00:05:11safeguarding US
00:05:12progress Normalization has of occurred relations since between the the 2020
00:05:16maintenance of peace between Serbia and Kosovo is essential to regional
00:05:20stability.
00:05:24Washington significant agreement which was brokered by our president during the first
00:05:28term. Nevertheless, the EU facilitated dialogue has stalled
00:05:31because of insufficient will on politic on both sides and we urge
00:05:35Belgrade and Prestina to void provocations to uphold their
00:05:39commitments and resume talks without preconditions.
00:05:43Let me say quickly, we're also working closely with our NATO allies,
00:05:46Albania, uh, Montenegro and North
00:05:50Macedonia, on our shared security goals as well as to
00:05:53counter transnational criminal organizations. Summing
00:05:57up, our engagements in the Western Balkans are tied to achievable
00:06:00objectives and measurable results. Our focus is
00:06:04on supporting pragmatic, locally driven solutions that booster
00:06:08stability, expanding commercial and security cooperation,
00:06:12and advancing the interests the American
00:06:30on the Russian influence in Serbia. However, more
00:06:34than half the Chinese investment in this entire
00:06:37region goes into Serbia,
00:06:40so... what is your assessment? what is the
00:06:44US policy, and I you focused on Serbia in your
00:06:47comments, how are we counteracting that huge investment into
00:06:51Serbia uh, because I believe that China uh, China's
00:06:55interest is to continuing the un the
00:06:59instability in the region, and I certainly think these investments
00:07:03are lead to that conclusion.
00:07:05Sir, Mr. Chairman, thank you for that important
00:07:09question, uh, what I can assure you is that the United States continues. to work with
00:07:13Serbia and all our allies in Western Balkans to ensure
00:07:16that they pursue investments that don't allow geopolitical
00:07:20rivals, particularly China to take ownership over critical
00:07:23infrastructure. In the case of of Serbia,
00:07:27we are concerned that their investments in
00:07:31defense defense articles coming from China, particularly air defense,
00:07:35the only European country to buy from China air defense, that that
00:07:39could jeopardize our ability to work closely and promote. defense
00:07:42cooperation with Serbia, we want to, as I said in my opening remarks, to be
00:07:46the partner of choice, so we continue our active commercial and economic
00:07:50diplomacy to promote US business in the region.
00:07:54uh, I would ask you, and I will submit this in writing, what can we
00:07:58do to, what can Congress do uh to
00:08:02to counteract
00:08:03the the Chinese investment in in Serbia? I'd like to
00:08:07move to uh, Kosovo and NATO
00:08:11uh, because... I believe that is the most
00:08:14important element of stability in this region is
00:08:17Kosovo at um ascension to NATO uh
00:08:21second only in immediacy to the K4 issue uh but
00:08:25we have four NATO members Greece Romania Slovakia and
00:08:28Spain as you know that are non-recognizers
00:08:32uh how does how is the Trump administration working with the
00:08:36non-recognizers realizing that this is key
00:08:40point of stability in this entire region.
00:08:44Thank you, Mr. Chairman for that question. It is an important one as well, the
00:08:48United States supports international recognition of Kosovo, we continue
00:08:51our those conversations, including with NATO allies that are
00:08:55non-recognizers. I also want to say that in
00:08:59terms of making the case return to the normalization
00:09:03dialogue, the EU dialogue between Kosovo
00:09:07and Serbia would be would be useful
00:09:10in in in
00:09:11in in our. advocacy for for
00:09:15recognition and we do urge political leaders on both
00:09:18sides to return to those talks without
00:09:21preconditions. again,
00:09:23I will put it
00:09:24in writing, but I after after we get through this next election season in
00:09:28in the region, I think we ought to consider how we
00:09:38I i have what time for one more question,
00:09:43"I can't tell you how important K4 is both to the Serbian
00:09:46government and to the Kosovo government, both them for different
00:09:50reasons of course, consider K4 and not just
00:09:53K4, but the US presence in K4, absolutely
00:09:57essential. Can you address the US policy,
00:10:01not the department of war planning, but the US policy from
00:10:05the state department in terms of K4? Thank you,
00:10:09Mr. Chairman, I agree with you, K4 is an important.
00:10:13force for stability in in the region, I
00:10:17will just share that the size and scope of k4 is
00:10:21determined by NATO's North Atlantic Council. at
00:10:2532 uh, we do support four size that's
00:10:29needed to accomplish K4's uh its goals as
00:10:33conditions permit on the ground, and uh, as we look at
00:10:36US force contribution, we do look at US policy priorities, mission
00:10:40needs in partner capability, but the United States is
00:10:44is providing a significant and important contribution to
00:10:48K4 right now, uh, yes, they are, and I would ask you for State
00:10:52Department support uh, because if we move this from
00:10:55requirement in in the Pentagon to requirement in the
00:10:59European command, it will show decreased
00:11:03emphasis on the US participation in K4, um,
00:11:07so I would ask for your help if that does come about, because
00:11:11this needs to be a US policy priority supported
00:11:15by the state department.
00:11:35I want to begin with Dodic's recent behavior. In February of this
00:11:39year Dodic described Dayton as
00:11:42unsalvageable and said the High Representative had no
00:11:46legitimacy. Later in February they referred to
00:11:50Bosnia acts as enemies and and he uh
00:11:54used as amophobic slurs in the process
00:11:58in May of this year, the RS National Assembly
00:12:02passed legislation calling for closure the office the High Representative in
00:12:05May, also Dotic took two trips to Moscow
00:12:09where he echoed Russian talking
00:12:12points.
00:12:15Do you believe that this behavior is consistent with Dayton Peace
00:12:19Accord? Well, thank you, ranking
00:12:22member, what I want to... you is that the United States
00:12:26supports the peace and stability that the Dayton Peace Accord uh has afford us
00:12:30all and uh we oppose rhetoric uh for
00:12:34political gain and we're urging deescalation so thank you for
00:12:38shar so would you urge reing statement of those sanctions on him because
00:12:42he's just continued to do what he did before and the purpose of sanctions
00:12:46is to alter behavior? thank you uh ranking member
00:12:49keeding for their question uh i think it's a it's a separate question whether
00:12:53sanctions should be applied. I will say that we are focused on actions
00:12:57as opposed to rhetoric. I also just note here
00:13:01that uh right now, Mr. Doddic uh has stepped down
00:13:05from his from office, he holds no political office at this
00:13:09time, and he's not running for politic of continues this rhetoric
00:13:13to this time, and this Congress passed the Western Balkan's democracy and prosperity
00:13:16act which calls for sanctioning of individuals doing just what he is
00:13:20doing. So uh, I don't think the issues
00:13:24as you mention. are different i think they're connected obviously
00:13:28and would hope that the department does
00:13:30echo calls to
00:13:34reinstate those sanctions, they mean nothing if they're taken away and
00:13:38then he continues the very same behavior he did before. i
00:13:42just want to move also
00:13:44to the issue of that i addressed in my opening remarks about the gas
00:13:48pipeline
00:13:53itself tweeted publicly. about its hope that a US company
00:13:56would win the contract you in your opening remarks said the administration's
00:14:00policy is for local solutions to local
00:14:04problems so after initially just advocating
00:14:08which i agree with for a southern interconnection gas
00:14:11pipeline uh then the embassy changed and said there
00:14:14should be a US company that's involved and just four days
00:14:18later that company was formed by Joseph
00:14:22flynn and jessie benal. and they have no
00:14:26experience whatsoever in the region, no experience with
00:14:29pipeline uh, and they're written into the
00:14:32contract. how do you explain the embassy's change
00:14:36and and the difference from
00:14:38your opening statements that these should be local problems, and this
00:14:42is obviously interjecting US politics and
00:14:45us into this into this important project. how do you explain that change?
00:14:49and how do you uh explain the advocating of a company with
00:14:53no experience, it was just... formed four days after that
00:14:57pronouncement by the embassy. Gen, I really appreciate the
00:15:01question and the chance to to clarify. I also appreciate in your
00:15:04opening statement that you you appreciate the the strategic
00:15:08significance the southern interconnection, which
00:15:11would provide for US energy abundance to the
00:15:15region a way that could increase energy security
00:15:19for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United
00:15:22States, this this project is existed on the books
00:15:26for approximately decade, it was in
00:15:302024 that the government, the federation government decided to move
00:15:34forward with the project with legislation,
00:15:39"I sincerely apologize for interrupting, but I've got less than a minute,
00:15:43I want to cut to this issue directly. I mean, are you aware of any
00:15:46discussions along these lines of US
00:15:50agencies or quasi agencies being involved in
00:15:53funding, has it been since the sudden change of
00:15:57uh, it's a US company, after you're saying that it's local solutions
00:16:01that we should be fostering, and this
00:16:04four-day miraculous..."
00:16:08coincidental, I don't think it is, formation of new company
00:16:12with no experience, getting this contract. Is there also any
00:16:15discussion, and it's something we should have oversight over, if there
00:16:19is, with funding
00:16:21from US entities at all towards towards this uh,
00:16:25and and towards this company. Ranky member Keeding, what I can to say
00:16:29is that over many years the United States is provide technical expertise to the
00:16:33federation in the design the southern interconnection project.
00:16:37"I'm not aware of any funding or or direct assistance, we did
00:16:41advocate for a US solution, and just to cut to your
00:16:45question about AFS
00:16:47capabilities, you know, it's a standard,
00:16:50globalized,
00:16:51you globally used business structure to pool financial, technical and
00:16:55operational expertise for large infrastructure projects. Ultimately, the
00:16:59decision to go with an American solution and with this particular
00:17:03company to enter into contract negotiations with that company was
00:17:15South Carolina, Mr. Wilson, thank you very much,
00:17:18Mr. Chairman, and indeed, thank you for being here today, I am
00:17:22grateful to have introduce with ranking member Bill Keeding and
00:17:26chairman Keith Self legislation promoting fair and free elections in
00:17:30Serbia, we actually have a support letter from
00:17:3414 different Serbian civil society organizations.
00:17:37supporting free elections in
00:17:45Additionally, I'm very grateful that uh tomorrow
00:17:49uh there will be a briefing on the Serbia's upcoming elections at
00:17:539:30 in the morning everyone is invited room 2:10 cannon house
00:17:57office
00:18:11are legitimate concerns that the October 25th election in Serbia
00:18:14will not be free and fair. there are indications that vuches security
00:18:18state interest with assistance from war criminal
00:18:22Putin are working to rate the election such as fake
00:18:25identities, fake accounts, consolidating media under state
00:18:29control. the Trump administration approach to Serbia via
00:18:33the strategic dialogue is very important. how can we effectively
00:18:37communicate?
00:18:37strategic dialogue,
00:18:50Wilson for carefully
00:18:51that the important question, for
00:18:51we watching are preparation
00:18:54Serbia's elections, with respect to the
00:18:58this Serbia was US the first ever, and it was, as I mentioned in my opening statement, an
00:19:02important vehicle to advance our security cooperation, our
00:19:06economic. operation and even our people to people
00:19:09ties, the the effort here is to invest
00:19:13in a relationship that for too long was was
00:19:16marked by by isolation
00:19:19and and lack of communication, we would
00:19:21like to make Serbia, we would
00:19:22like to make the United States the partner of choice in Serbia,
00:19:25and I appreciate the partner of choice message, but indeed I
00:19:29was an election observer the first three elections in Bulgaria with the International Republican
00:19:33Institute and National Democrat institute, and so over and
00:19:37over Again, we can have role monitoring and promoting fair and free
00:19:40elections. Additionally, it's been reported that corruption,
00:19:44organized crime and election integrity in Albania is
00:19:48being affected by the Edirama
00:19:51government, in fact, promoting the creation
00:19:55of a noroco trafficking Kaval. It's
00:19:57been over the years, the United States is
00:20:01actually been very successful with anti-crime
00:20:04organized drug trafficking authorities address. issue,
00:20:07what is the administration doing
00:20:09in response to the Albanian narco
00:20:11trafficking? Wilson, thank you as well
00:20:15for that important question, I can assure you that the United States continues
00:20:19to work with the Albanian government to counter uh
00:20:23transnational criminal organizations that operate from there, these these
00:20:27organizations have international links with cartels here in the western
00:20:31hemisphere, in particular we found that the special structure
00:20:35for combatting corruption
00:20:36in in organiz crime has been relatively effective
00:20:40addressing uh some the issues that you raised,
00:20:49and so we want all to succeed, with that in mind to
00:20:53uh, as you talk about partner of choice, it needs to be by
00:20:56actions, not words and indeed Serbia now has the largest
00:21:00oil company (NIS) being owned by war criminal Putin,
00:21:04we have Serbia purchases from War Putin, its
00:21:08weapon systems, we have Chinese communist party,
00:21:12tech company, Huawei, supports camera surveillance in
00:21:15Serbia's three largest cities, Serbia purchased Chinese radar and air
00:21:19defense. systems incredibly Serbia sent a
00:21:22delegation to the funeral of dictator uh Komeni and
00:21:25Tehand alongside the uh delegations of Russia and
00:21:29China. These are actions that do not show a
00:21:33uh effort to uh to be part of western
00:21:36civilization uh but they show subservience to War Putin
00:21:40and so how is this being addressed? well thank you representative
00:21:43Willison I can assure you that the United States continues to advocate heavily for
00:21:47US business and US solutions. uh on the positive side,
00:21:51what I can I'd like to note is that this year, for the first time in its history,
00:21:55Serbia held a joint military exercise with NATO,
00:21:59well and I need to let you know they also had a joint military exercise with the
00:22:03Chinese people liberation army, and so
00:22:07hey, this is so serious, and and and many of
00:22:11us inself and myself are concerned about diesel prises
00:22:14and uh having Serbia's oil company
00:22:17owned by Work Putin affect. diesel prices in Texas
00:22:21and South Carolina, even Massachusetts. Thank you very much. If
00:22:25I may just quickly
00:22:29to to and the nice, you mentioned the oil refinery that's Russian owned, we are working to
00:22:33eliminate Russian control and ownership of nice. They're
00:22:36actually increasing
00:22:50because it seems like host of contradictions, maybe you can make that
00:22:53clear, but you just commented on this
00:22:56Russian involvement with this oil
00:22:59refinery, i mean this
00:23:03really begs the question, president
00:23:07in the last 24 hours urged the
00:23:09Ukrainians to to lay off the Russian
00:23:13refineries because the increased
00:23:17cost of of diesel, it's absurd,
00:23:51and somehow codoning this involvement or ownership of this
00:23:54refinery, when these brave Ukrainian people are fighting for their
00:23:58sovereignty and their democracy, it makes no
00:24:01sense. what has the department done implement the
00:24:05western balkans democracy and prosperity act in,
00:24:09including the anti-corruption initiatives and technical assistance
00:24:13and sanctions and government
00:24:17oversight, how is this? administration with the western
00:24:21countries supporting their eU membership aspirations
00:24:24that further our interests, us interest in the
00:24:28region
00:24:29by expanding opportunities
00:24:30for our businesses in line with the
00:24:32act. thank you, representative
00:24:36coasta, let me just reassure that when it comes to the
00:24:40the Russian own oil refinery in Serbia, the United States
00:24:44sanctioned that entity in in 2025,
00:24:47right now I can share that uh a Hungarian oil company that's in
00:24:51negotiations
00:24:52to to purchase that and remove Russian control from it, and we're looking at another
00:24:56sanctions bill potentially, and frankly I think the president has more
00:24:59authority to issue sanctions in this instance, but go ahead and answer the
00:25:03question. Sure, and with respect to sanctions, I'll be the
00:25:07first to say, we retain sanction authorities, and we will act
00:25:10if if if stabilities threaten or and necessary
00:25:14to secure US interests, uh, the United States, do you believe you have
00:25:18sufficient authority now? "I believe Congress has given that sufficient
00:25:22authority and um and we continuously review actions that
00:25:26may warrant sanction. The authority you have given us is also
00:25:29I think served as deterrent effect from destabilizing actions
00:25:33in the region. We'll continue. I want to assure we'll continue to engage
00:25:37Congress as we implement relevant statutory requirements
00:25:41the NDAA. Does the administration support
00:25:45membership the Western Balkan countries in the
00:25:47EU? Uh, thank you."
00:26:02with the European Union, well certainly we can be helpful in that process, I mean
00:26:06we last I just still had
00:26:09a serious participation
00:26:13in NATO and certainly by way of that our
00:26:16EU allies, right?
00:26:20well again, we're not a member the I know we're not a member, you don't have to remind me of
00:26:23that fact, so uh, right
00:26:27now, the United States supports the reform
00:26:30process that creates a better... business investment climate because that
00:26:34has
00:26:35uh uh the that has the advent the advantageous
00:26:39effect of of of giving the United States the opportunity to
00:26:43help generate prosperity in the region. so could you summarize for me what the
00:26:47overall strategy is when it comes to the Balkans and our
00:26:50attempt to maintain our
00:26:54influence in light the
00:26:57ongoing activities by both Russia and China?
00:27:01absolutely uh... Representative Costa, our our strategy is
00:27:04threefold, it's to um promote stability in the region, it's to
00:27:08advance economic cooperation in the region, and it's to um,
00:27:12it's to counter transnational threats, and this is consistent with our
00:27:16overall mandate given to us by secretary of state Rubio to make the
00:27:20United States safer, more secure, and more prosperous. Well, those
00:27:24are all great sound bites, but what is your biggest challenge in
00:27:27dealing with that, those folks and and that has had a long
00:27:31history, obviously. going back to yugoslavia
00:27:34and and Tito, but the the fact is is that the
00:27:38efforts of Russia and China still
00:27:41are one could argue that the in many
00:27:45ways are making far more progress than we are. Thank
00:27:48you for that question, representative Costa, what I can tell you is that the United States
00:27:52continues to work with all those countries the Western Balkans to try
00:27:56to ensure that we are the partner of choice, and with respect
00:28:00to to unsafe investments, we're we're promoting investment
00:28:04screening uh we also prevent uh we also
00:28:07promote uh procurement uh procedures that would eliminate
00:28:11unsecure vendors from geopolitical rivals,
00:28:14so we're engaged every day, I can assure you our teams are engaged every day to advance
00:28:18US interesting to advance the interest the US American
00:28:21people in in those countries. Well, I'm
00:30:11ties with China have expended in recent years
00:30:14and Serbian president said we
00:30:18have very good cooperation between our countries and we want to bring it to a
00:30:22higher level if possible. Well, notably,
00:30:25Serbia's importation of concerning levels of weapons from
00:30:29China ranging from long-range air to surface.
00:30:32ballistic missiles to advanced surface tail missars
00:30:36along with this participation in joined military drills
00:30:40with China represents unpreceidentist strategic behavior for an
00:30:43EU candidate nation. Mr. Lothtern,
00:30:47given these concerning developments, how is the state department
00:30:51addressing the risk of Serbia's military alignment with
00:30:54Beijing to US security interest in stability in the west.