The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe heard testimony Tuesday that the Western Balkans remain vulnerable to instability and foreign influence, and that renewed U.S. engagement is needed to deter further crises.

Chairman Self opened the hearing saying the region “remains the most unstable region in Europe” outside the war in Ukraine and called out several persistent flashpoints: Serbia’s unresolved status vis‑à‑vis Kosovo, a stagnated 2023 Ohrid agreement, Bosnia’s institutional stress and expanded use of the high representative’s authority, and mounting judicial backlogs in Albania that leave citizens waiting years for rulings.

Witnesses from policy research centers told members the problems are interrelated. Max Primarack, a senior research fellow at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, said Bosnia is “in permanent crisis” and urged shrinking or dissolving the Office of the High Representative to restore national sovereignty and political accountability. Luke Coffey of the Hudson Institute defended the Dayton Accords as stabilizing but cautioned against dismantling them now. Edward P. Joseph of the Merrill Center and Johns Hopkins SAIS said Serbia’s alignment with Russia and China makes the country a strategic obstacle to regional reform and that NATO‑oriented pathways for Kosovo and others would reduce Moscow’s leverage.

Members pressed witnesses on concrete U.S. tools. Testimony and questioning emphasized several recurring policy options: sustaining NATO peacekeeping (KFOR) and continued security assistance for Kosovo; using economic tools such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation compact in Kosovo to bolster energy security; exploring alternative energy supplies and infrastructure to reduce Balkan dependence on Russian gas; and leveraging EU accession processes to demand rule‑of‑law reforms.

Committee members repeatedly raised concerns about demographic decline, organized crime and corruption. Coffey noted that European‑directed reforms and EU accession conditions remain among the strongest incentives for change, while Joseph and others cautioned that corruption and weak institutions can blunt the impact of foreign assistance.

The hearing also underscored the region’s strategic competition: witnesses said Russia uses information operations and political allies in Republika Srpska to destabilize Bosnia, while China’s decade of infrastructure investment — cited by a member as more than €30 billion — creates risks of debt dependence and political leverage.

No formal votes or policy changes were made. Chairman Self signaled he would introduce legislation requiring the State Department to report on Belgrade’s treatment of ethnic minorities, including widely reported claims of so‑called “passivation” of ethnic Albanians, and the committee asked witnesses to supply written answers to members’ questions.

The committee adjourned without further action.