Dendias: the Western Balkans could become a major source of destabilisation – a warning to Europe

Defence Minister Nikos Dendias issued a clear warning about the risks of destabilisation in the Western Balkans, pointing out that Europe is not giving the necessary attention to a region that could develop into a serious source of crisis. At the same time he stressed that the European integration of the region’s countries is a basic precondition for long-term stability and security.

Speaking on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at the opening of the international conference “The Role of the Western Balkans in the New Security Architecture” in Athens, the minister addressed geopolitical challenges, hybrid threats and the need to redefine Europe’s deterrence strategy.

Warning of the risk of destabilisation

Mr Dendias stressed that stability in the Western Balkans must not be taken for granted, especially at a time of growing international uncertainty and geopolitical confrontation. “Stability is not a given. It requires vigilance, attention, but above all engagement,” he said, recalling the region’s historical importance and the capacity of Balkan tensions to acquire wider international dimensions.

He put particular emphasis on the limited attention European capitals devote to the Western Balkans. As he noted, in his contacts in Brussels and other major European capitals he often finds the region absent from the political agenda, despite the real risks of destabilisation. He also warned that the conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere must not distract from the security challenges in the Balkan neighbourhood. “We must not allow the very real hotspots of war […] to disorient us from a huge potential problem that lies in our neighbourhood,” he stressed.

Hybrid threats and “Agenda 2030”

Referring to the changing security environment, the minister noted that modern threats are no longer limited to conventional military operations. Cyberattacks, disinformation, unmanned systems, terrorism, organised crime and the instrumentalisation of migration flows create, as he put it, an especially dangerous environment for the security of states. In that context he linked the new challenges to the transformation of the Hellenic Armed Forces through “Agenda 2030,” saying the goal is both to strengthen military effectiveness and to protect infrastructure and society against modern threats.

European integration as a factor of stability

Mr Dendias reiterated Greece’s firm support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans, citing the Thessaloniki Agenda of 2003. As he argued, integrating the region’s states into the European family is a necessary condition for their stabilisation and prosperity, while this strategy enjoys broad political consensus in Greece.

The conference is organised by the Ministry of National Defence’s General Directorate for National Defence Policy and International Relations, with the participation of senior military and diplomatic representatives. Those present included the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Choupis, the Secretary General for National Security, Thanos Dokos, and retired Ambassador Michael Spinellis.

The key message of the intervention was that the security of the Western Balkans is directly linked to European security and that preventing a new regional crisis requires constant vigilance and real European commitment. For more on the transformation of the Armed Forces, see Dendias on a Hellenic Air Force with 200 fighters and hundreds of drones.