Washington on the Offensive? ‘NATO is Taking the Balkans Piece by Piece’

• Washington on the Offensive? ‘NATO is Taking the Balkans Piece by Piece’
  by http://sputniknews.com/  
  Washington plans to incorporate into the orbit of Western influence not only Montenegro, but also other Balkan countries. With this strategy, the US seeks to weaken Russian influence in a strategically important region, Jorgen Samso wrote.
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  NATO’s invitation to Montenegro to join the military alliance showed that the United States is on the offensive to expand its influence in the Balkans and infringe on Russia’s interests, Jorgen Samso wrote for Politico.
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  Montenegro
  On Wednesday, the alliance invited Montenegro to start accession talks on NATO membership. 
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  “Now, with Montenegro, NATO is taking the Balkans piece by piece,” said Stefano Stefanini, former NATO ambassador to Italy, cited by the newspaper.
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  “Just imagine the Balkan region on a scale. Every time you move a weight, big or small, you shift the balance — from instability or to stability,” he added.
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  However, NATO’s Balkan campaign involves not only Montenegro, but other Balkan countries as well, the newspaper stressed. Thus, high-ranking US officials and leaders of the military alliance recently visited Belgrade and Zagreb as part of renewed efforts to include the Balkan region into the Western orbit.
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  Serbia
  Serbia is one of the main Balkan countries of interest for the United States. Earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade and expressed his approval of the government’s strategy aimed at normalizing relations with its breakaway region Kosovo. Two weeks earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced a “new start” in relations with Serbia.
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  Nevertheless, despite all diplomatic attempts, Serbia remains the “tidbit” which is hard to get. Still keeping in mind the bloody NATO military campaign in Yugoslavia, Belgrade is trying to keep the balance between the West and the East, Politico wrote.
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  “Serbia is carefully trying to move forward its EU membership application while balancing between East and West and staying militarily neutral,” Politico wrote.
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