The EU approach to security provision in the Western Balkans and the Horn of Africa (original) (raw)

EU conflict prevention and peacebeuilding in the Horn of Africa and Western Balkans

EU-CIVCAP Preventing and Responding to Conflict: Developing EU CIVilian CAPabilities for a sustainable peace, 2017

The paper analyses the EU’s capabilities to execute conflict prevention and peacebuilding in the Western Balkans and the Horn of Africa. It focuses on capabilities developed under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and whether their application matches up with EU strategies to address security needs on the ground. The purpose of this endeavour is to examine whether the EU’s capabilities are appropriate and sufficient to reach its expectations – and those of others – in preventing conflict and building peace in both regions. This study was the part of Horizon 2020 project EUCiv-Cap https://eu-civcap.net

EU Peace Support Operations in the Western Balkans Since 2003

2013

The chapter provides an assessment of the main Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions deployed to the region in the past decade. It was in the Western Balkans that, in 2003, the EU launched its first peace support operations in an effort initially to restore stability, and later on in the reform process, to bring the region closer to – and eventually inside – the EU. The Western Balkans have therefore constituted fertile ground for the development of the CSDP and have provided ample opportunity for the EU to learn from experience and to evolve and adapt to its own and local needs. As a result, the CSDP has come to be one of the most potent tools that the EU has available for the transformation of conflict-afflicted areas into zones of stability and order. This chapter demonstrates that, beyond boosting EU capabilities in external action, these missions have played a critical role in reforming security sector institutions and supporting statebuilding in the Western Balkans. However, the ongoing challenges and unresolved political tensions that exist both inside and between the countries of the region point to the limitations that CSDP missions face in consolidating peace."

European security and Balkan challenges : national policies and institutional failures

Balkan studies, 1995

The article discusses the issues and dilemmas that Western states and institutions faced in South-eastern Europe as a result of the “reactivation of history” in the region and the policies pursued as a response to the risks generated by the Yugoslav imbroglio. The overall argument is that the Balkan conflict is strictly linked to the post-Cold War power dislocation in the international system, which is manifestly demonstrated by the involvement of the leading powers and institutions in the dynamics of crisis and by the real danger that the disorder will spill over to regions previously regarded as stable areas of the European sub-system. The analysis considers in turn: a) the response of the European Union and the USA; and b) the prospects of constructing a new, badly needed security regime in the area. It is argued that the Balkan states cannot be separated from Europe’s wider security concerns. The region needs to be integrated into continent-wide structures, in order to both def...

The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy in the case of the EULEX Mission in Kosovo

Teorija in praksa, 2021

The article considers whether the EU's CSDP missions are a suitable crisis management mechanism for post-conflict situations, along with the EU's relevance in crisis management at all. For this purpose, the EU's biggest CSDP civilian mission EULEX was chosen as a research case study. The research results reveal that EULEX has not implemented its mandate, not met the expectations of security consumers, not made any difference on the ground, and cannot be seen as an example the EU should rely on in its future missions. Further, EULEX shows that CSDP missions suffer from many shortfalls and the EU CFSP from a capability-expectations gap. The article concludes that the EULEX mission does not show the EU's relevance in the crisis management of post-conflict situations.

Rethinking security: Western Balkans as a security provider

2018

Engagement on Security and Migration (European Commission 2018), the London Summit provides a solid basis to pose the question: where does the Western Balkans fit into the overall EU security architecture? Within this context, the paper aims at analyzing and exploring ways of cooperation between Western Balkan (WB) countries and the EU in the security sector. Moreover, it aims at analyzing the capacities of Western Balkan countries to work conjointly with the EU in successfully tackling security challenges in the region and seeks ways to transform the region from a security consumer to a security provider.