THE ROLE OF THE WESTERN BALKANS IN THE SECURITY OF THE EURO-ATLANTIC REGION (original) (raw)

Security Challenges of Western Balkans Countries, a Necessity for a Regional Cooperation

30 YEARS OF INDEPENDENT MACEDONIAN STATE

After the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, the Western Balkan was one of the regions that experienced the most difficult transition because this process was accompanied by bilateral and multilateral conflicts, with local and regional wars, as well as with political and ethnic clashes. As a consequence, it was also politically fragmented on its map. The international community intervened in the Balkans with various civilian and military missions, respectively during the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia. These international interventions have yielded concrete results in the process of overall democratic reforms of the region countries, with particular emphasis on the security field, as well as the aspect of integration reforms in both NATO and the EU. The fragmentation of Western Balkans came as a result of many historical, political, economic, military, geopolitical and strategic reasons. This process has also had consequences in the integration proces...

Security in the Balkans After the Cold War Bosnia and Kosovo Interventions

The Balkans, 2020

The Balkans have become an important region with historical and geopolitical factors. Both the ethnic and religion-based problems inherited in the region, and the strategies of global and regional actors in the area have always made the Balkans remarkable in terms of security issues. The Balkans were the actual area of two major wars in the 20th Century, and a region that experienced the effects of inter-block competitions in the Cold War period. After the Cold War, although the international community dreamed of “global security” and “global peace” because of the end of the long-lasting bipolarity, the disintegration of Yugoslavia brought the Balkans back to war. The international community was sometimes silent and sometimes had to intervene in these conflicts, which dated back to the genocide, sometimes with controversial legitimacy, in the Balkans towards the end of 20th Century. The Balkans has a sociological structure with a very strong social and historical memory and formed by different ethnic and religious communities. Therefore, countries have uniquely different security problems and interests. In today’s globalization process where inter-communal interactions and interdependence are increasing, there is no institutional mechanism by which Balkan countries can ensure their common security interests. However, even in times when globalization and mutual interactions were not as intense as today, institutional cooperation among Balkan countries was possible. The 1934 Balkan Pact, established in line with the security interests of the countries in the region, and the 1954 Balkan Alliance, which was established under the containment policy of the USA (The United States of America), are historical examples of institutional mechanisms

Cooperation of the Western Balkans States: Opportunity to Overcome Security Challenges

Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science, 2020

The Western Balkans is dominated by its geographical position, which, after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, was one of the regions that experienced the most difficult transition because this process was accompanied by bilateral and multilateral conflicts, with local and regional wars, with political and ethnic clashes. As a consequence, it was also politically fragmented on its map. The international community actively intervened in the Balkans with various civilian and military missions, respectively during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia (former FYROM). These international interventions have yielded concrete results in the process of overall democratic reforms of the countries of the region, with particular emphasis on the security field, as well as the aspect of integration reforms in both NATO and the EU. Fragmentation of the Western Balkans came for many historical, political, economic, military, geopolitical and strategic reasons. This process also had consequences for the integration process of this region. But it is currently fully oriented towards European and Euro-Atlantic structures. No Balkan countries including Kosovo have any other orientations besides these (there are doubts about Serbia). Serbia has stated that it does not want NATO membership, while Russia has tried and is constantly trying to cause chaos in the Western Balkans. How this chaos is caused and how the cooperation of the countries of this region has affected and is influenced is the essence of our work that will draw conclusions about how to act in the future. Keywords: Western Balkans, regional peace, theory of chaos, regional security, COVID19.

The Western Balkans in the Transatlantic Security Context: Where Do We Go from Here?

Insight Turkey, 2019

The Western Balkans has traditionally held vital geostrategic importance for European and transatlantic security. Ever since the 1990s, the EU and the NATO have maintained an active presence in the region, and pursued goals of stability and peace. Since the 2000s, the Euro-Atlantic actors have sought an eventual integration of the countries in the region into transatlantic structures. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary situation in the Western Balkans, examining the regional countries' prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration and the implications of the latest developments for transatlantic security. It makes the argument that NATO accession acts as a prelude to eventual EU accession, ensuring that the countries stay the course of engaging in reforms and contributing to Euro-Atlantic security while confirming their commitment to democracy.

The Western Balkans and EU-NATO relations

Integration

Since the end of the cold war a lot of things have changed in the international relations in the entire world. The profound changes initiated a process of transformation both in NATO and EU. The tragic events of September 11th had a further strong influence on the desire of ...

NATO vs. Russia: Impact on Balkan Regional Security

Institute of International Politics ; Economics ; University of Belgrade, Faculty of Security Studies eBooks, 2021

NATO, led by the US, and Russia are important factors in the regional security of the Balkans and all Balkan states individually. In the post-bipolar world order, which is marked by strong US domination after the collapse of the USSR, Russia's influence has weakened. However, by stabilizing the internal situation and then consolidating its position in international relations, Russia has returned to the scene and used the military, political (including soft power and cultural ties) and economic power (which is primarily visible in the energy sector) to restore its presence in the region of the Balkans, which is especially noticeable after 2008. However, due to almost two decades of American domination, the regional security dynamics have changed greatly in relation to the time of bipolarity, and part of the Balkan states that belonged to the Eastern Bloc or emerged from the disintegration of Yugoslavia have already become NATO members

The Balkans-part of Rimland! Through the viewfinder of risk threats and challenges in continuing Cold War

Security Dialogues /Безбедносни дијалози, 2017

Cold war never ended. After the collapse of the SSSR, the former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were annexed by NATO. Also, former communist states Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia were annexed by NATO. According to the conclusion of the NATO summit in Warsaw, it was noted that Georgia, Ukraine and Macedonia are the future countries that should join to the Alliance. Through NATO, the United States continued to implement Spykman theory, according to which "Who controls the Rimland rules (Heartland) Eurasia, who rules Heartland controls the destinies of the world".Balkan region for its geostrategic position, its mixed multi-ethnical structure, is one out of the three regions in Rimland that there have been disagreements continuously along ethnic and religious ground, the nationalism and conflicts often developed into mass bloodshed.The other two regions with similar characteristics are the Middle East and Asian Balkans (countries of Central Asia). It has

The Role of Western Balkans in Nato Strategic Thinking: Reflections on Continuity and Changes in Seeking for a New Relevance

2021

Recently changed global political, security, and strategic context put NATO strategic thinking to new tests. The ability to adapt to unique circumstances and find a suitable position in international society are again on the NATO's agenda. This paper investigates processes on the road ahead of the NATO members to a new NATO strategic concept, emphasizing Western Balkans countries and territories and their efforts to play new roles. Contemporary perception of China threat, Russian aggressive behavior in its neighborhood, pandemics, and climate change seem to put away Western Balkans from the NATO's agenda. The authors claim that NATO must hold back its tier built in previous decades. Some Western Balkans countries became members, but the others remained possible sources of regional instability. Also, this is the region where most great powers clash their interests and fight diplomatically and economically for achieving their particular foreign policy goals. If striving to remain relevant in the area, NATO must (re) discover new roles with appropriate answers.

The role of the European Union as a factor for security, stability and prosperity of the Balkan countries

The role of the European Union as a factor for security, stability and prosperity of the Balkan countries, 2023

ABSTRACT: The report „The role of the European Union as a factor in the security, stability and prosperity of the Balkan countries“ presents an in-depth analysis of how the foreign policy priorities and the domestic political situation in the countries of the Western Balkans are changing through the harmonization of local legislation and policies with the aim of rapprochement and achieving of full membership in the European Union. After years of war caused by ethnic conflicts in the 1990s in Yugoslavia, to date the countries of the region have focused on covering pan-European norms and values, namely political stability, civil security and economic growth, so that one day to be able to join the big European family and take advantage of all the advantages that membership in the European Union would provide them - more security, more financial resources, more opportunities for development, etc.