Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian National Assembly, opened the second half of the day of the Budapest Balkans Forum (BBF) with a keynote speech. He focused on the implications of the second Trump era for the Western Balkans region.
Mr. Németh began by reflecting on the powerful ways in which U.S. foreign policy is changing. One thing that is clear: This superpower, which has been an important player in the Western Balkans, is now taking an extremely different approach to the international environment, and this affects every state’s room for maneuver. The previous administration put serious ideological constrains on others, such as tying cooperation to support for LGBTQ+ movements or to handing sovereignty over to supranational organizations. The “Trump tornado” replaced this woke approach with realism.
The world is now characterized by a struggle between this new kind of realism and progressive structuralism. The Western Balkans will be shaped by this struggle. The countries in the region will need to choose which model they want to follow. Some will follow the former and enjoy the sympathy of the United States, while others will follow the latter and enjoy the sympathy of the EU.
The effective strategy for the Western Balkans would be to focus on what they can offer versus ideology. The countries should learn from the example of Zelensky that the previous ideological approach to the global powers could become counterproductive. But once Zelensky finally had something to offer—minerals—he ceased to be a persona non grata in Washington. The Balkan countries need to figure out what they can offer Washington. Trump wants to “Make American Great Again,” and they need to understand this and identify their unique added value.
For the Balkans, it is also important that there has been a recognition by the U.S. that all states want to survive and have the right to survive. America and its allies will approach the Bosniaks, Albanians, Kosovars, Croats, Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, and all other groups in the region from a realist perspective. It is therefore best if the nations of the region acknowledge and respect each other’s interests. Hungarians have been trying to promote this for a very long time.
At the end of his speech, Mr. Németh emphasized that Hungary wants to be a helper of the Balkan people, and the Budapest Balkans Forum is one way that it is advocating for common goals.