It follows from the text that if the bill “On security cooperation in the Balkans” is adopted, the US Secretary of Defense, with the consent of the Secretary of State, will have to send a report to the relevant congressional committees, which includes a number of provisions.
In particular, the document will need to include information about Russian weapons systems, other military equipment and technologies worth $ 1 million or more, which each of the Western Balkan countries has received in one way or another since 2012.
Also, the report should provide information on joint exercises, on all agreements on security cooperation concluded by the Western Balkan countries with Russia, on the Russian humanitarian center in the city of Nis (Serbia) and on the interaction of the parties through the intelligence services.
The authors of the report were also tasked with analyzing how cooperation between Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia with Russia affects the interests of the United States and NATO, among others.
Among other things, the document will have to contain information about the interaction of the Western Balkan countries with China, the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance in the field of security.
Earlier, US Comptroller General Gene Dodaro expressed the opinion that the "threat to national security" of the United States from Russia, China and several other countries continues to grow.
He also noted that against the backdrop of a changing world environment, the Pentagon plans to invest more than $ 1.79 trillion in its most expensive weapons programs.
Earlier, Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that Russia does not threaten other states, but is ready to ensure its own security.