scholarly journals INTRODUCTION

2019 ◽  
pp. 27-30
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Roman Empire ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The North ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Eu

The year 2019 marks three anniversaries of great significance to the Republic of Slovenia, its citizens, its security and defence system, and the members of the Slovenian Armed Forces. The first anniversary commemorates 70 years of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the other two relate to the 15 years of Slovenia's membership of the European Union and NATO. Celebrating 70 years of NATO is of central importance because of the Alliance's symbolic meaning. Although it was officially established on 4 April 1949, it is true to say that North Atlantic cooperation is far older. It began during the mass immigration of members of numerous nations from the territories of today’s European Union and other parts of the world into North America. So far, several generations have been connected through family ties on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean; yet, these ties are not the only ones. These relationships overcame terrible ordeals in both World Wars, and resulted in cooperation, later officially named the Alliance, in the aftermath of World War II for one reason only – for it to never happen again. On the celebration of the 70th anniversary of NATO in Washington, D.C., the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said that “[the Treaty's] reach is vast, and it has stood the test of time – because we have united around our core commitment to protect and defend one another”. In a wider sense, however, this long lasting Alliance is probably all about striving to safeguard, preserve and develop the Western European cultural, historical, political, sociological, security, defence, military (and so on) identity. Recently, the geopolitical aspect and the importance of the Alliance in relation to other emerging political actors, mainly from the East, have become increasingly important. Nevertheless, despite the major changes it has undergone in the past 70 years, the Alliance, having seemed obsolete to other security organizations, is now as vital as ever. The fact that the Republic of Slovenia has already been a member of the European Union and NATO for 15 years appears logical, particularly from the historical perspective. The territory of what is now Slovenia, where our ancestors have lived for centuries, was part of the Holy Roman Empire for over a thousand years, the Austrian Empire for 63 years, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire for 51 years. The 20th century saw several different organizational structures, with us as part of them, together with those countries which are now collectively referred to as the Western Balkans. However, the 21st century brought us membership of the European Union and NATO, i.e. a “place” where we can finally belong. On 23 March 2003, a referendum on Slovenia’s membership of the EU and NATO was held, asking the citizens of the Republic of Slovenia if they were in favour of joining the two organizations. Almost 90% of voters favoured Slovenia joining the EU, while 66% voted to join NATO. The current edition of Contemporary Military Challenges is dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Slovenia's membership of the Alliance. In 2009 and 2014, two special thematic issues were published, marking the 5th and 10th anniversaries respectively, highlighting the experience gained, and describing the best and also the less successful practices. We wanted to write them down, to remember them and leave them for generations yet to come. What is more, we wanted to share our experience with other countries aiming to join the Alliance. Our purpose here was to help those countries to not repeat our mistakes, and to assist them in avoiding mistakes altogether. For this issue, authors from other countries were invited to share their experiences and views of their countries’ and Slovenia’s membership of the Alliance. Special thanks go to David Humar and Primož Šavc for their invaluable assistance in creating the current edition.

The Western Balkans

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janusz Bugajski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Emerging Countries ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Balkan States ◽  
The Eu

The term Western Balkan is both geographic and political. It was initially employed by US and European policymakers to describe the part of the Balkan Peninsula that remained outside of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) since the early 1990s. It included all seven states that were formed during the collapse of Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia) together with Albania, which was emerging from international isolation. During the 1990s, several of these emerging countries had experienced wars generated by nationalist politicians to establish “ethnically pure” territories and to restore or enlarge national statehood during the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Following the EU’s Thessaloniki Summit in June 2003, commitments were made to include all the Western Balkan states in the European Union, and since that time Slovenia (in 2004) and Croatia (in 2013) have become EU members. NATO also underscored its commitments to integrating the region, and Slovenia (in 2004), Croatia (in 2009), Albania (in 2009), and Montenegro (in 2017) all entered the alliance. The remaining states have experienced persistent problems in qualifying for EU and NATO entry. In many cases, reforms remain incomplete and some states confront prolonged disputes over governmental powers, administrative borders, and even their sovereign status. Incomplete, conflicted, or contested states present serious challenges for the region’s institutional absorption into both NATO and the EU.

DIRECTIONS AND CAUSES OF CHANGES IN THE COMMAND SYSTEM AND ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (31) ◽  
pp. 93-104
Author(s):  
Wiesław Kamiński
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
International Security ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
North Atlantic Treaty Organization ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Republic

The article presents the directions and causes of changes in the command system and organization of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland. It presents issues related to the changes that took place in the Polish Armed Forces after 1989 resulting from changes in the international security environment and resulting from Polish accession to the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

scholarly journals Croatia’s Presidency of the European Union and the Western Balkans . A New Momentum or a Missed Opportunity?

Südosteuropa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-568
Author(s):  
Tihomir Cipek
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The North ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
Missed Opportunity ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis text will reconstruct the main determinants of Croatia’s foreign policy to the European Union (EU) and the Western Balkans. It will demonstrate why, after joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the EU, Croatia needs a new foreign policy goal. I will advocate a thesis that Croatia is looking for a place of its own within the EU, but that it has not yet managed to find it due to its dual foreign policies approach—the government’s, which was pro-European, and that of the previous president of the country, which was pro-American. The election of the new president and the presidency of the EU has given Croatia a chance to set a new goal for its foreign policy. Specifically, in its focus on Europe, could Croatia’s new role be found in guiding the enlargement process in the Western Balkans?

scholarly journals The exports from the western Balkans countries to the EU: The main problems and recommendations

2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (168) ◽  
pp. 49-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Besim Culahovic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Serbia And Montenegro ◽  
Integration Strategy ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Trade Measures ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) trade policy towards Western Balkan's countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia) is one of the important tools of EU's integration strategy. The exports from the Western Balkan?s countries to the European Union(15) are preferred within special autonomous trade measures for the Western Balkan?s countries which were introduced by the EU in September 2000 (the 2000TM). The 2000TM are a far-ranging set of preferences which provide the Western Balkan?s countries with unparalleled market access to the EU, and hence with the potential both to develop the existing exports and to generate new exports. However, the Western Balkan?s countries exports to the EU are far below the level which could reasonably be expected. In all Western Balkan?s countries a number of supply-side and domestic policy reasons are identified for this under-performance, which suggests that the 2000TM are likely in part to rectify the situation. The economic regeneration of the Western Balkan?s countries will depend on the success of internal economic reform and on the adoption of economic and trade policies which specifically identify and address some serious supply-side constraints.

scholarly journals Accession to the European Union and Perception of External Actors in the Western Balkans

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (83) ◽  
pp. 6-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Jović
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The West ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
The Republic ◽  
External Actors ◽  
The Eu

Abstract This paper focuses on perceptions of the European Union (EU) and external actors (such as the United States, Russia, and Turkey) in six countries of the Western Balkans (WB) and Croatia in a comparative perspective. We present data generated by public opinion polls and surveys in all countries of that region in order to illustrate growing trends of EU indifferentism in all predominately Slavic countries of the region. In addition, there is an open rejection of pro-EU policies by significant segments of public opinion in Serbia and in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia-Herzegovina. On the contrary, there is much enthusiasm and support for the West in general and the EU in particular in predominately non-Slavic countries, Kosovo and Albania. We argue that the WB as a region defined by alleged desire of all countries to join the the EU is more of an elite concept than that shared by the general population, which remains divided over the issue of EU membership. In explaining reasons for such a gap we emphasise a role of interpretation of the recent past, especially when it comes to a role the West played in the region during the 1990s.

scholarly journals United States Joins with Allies, Including NATO, to Attribute Malicious Cyber Activities to China

2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-721
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The North ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Made In

In July, the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), and other allies attributed a variety of malicious cyber activities, including the Microsoft Exchange hack, to China. This joint attribution builds on commitments made in June summits with NATO, the G7, the EU, and the United Kingdom, and is consistent with the Biden administration's multilateral approach to confronting cybersecurity threats and China more generally. Still, critics question whether the administration's efforts will succeed in altering the behavior of states that pose cybersecurity threats to the United States.

scholarly journals EU-NATO COOPERATION AND THE SLOVENIAN PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

2021 ◽  
pp. 15-28
Author(s):  
MARKO MAHNIČ
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Key Words ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The North ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Common Security ◽  
The Way

Povzetek Namen članka je spodbuditi razmislek o tem, ali so ovire za skladno delovanje Evropske unije in Organizacije severnoatlantske pogodbe na področju skupne varnosti in obrambe le tehnične narave ali gre za razlike na nekaterih drugih ravneh v politiki, dvostranskih odnosih in nacionalnih ambicijah nekaterih držav, ki so članice ene ali druge organizacije. V obeh primerih se postavlja vprašanje, ali lahko Slovenija kot država, ki 1. julija 2021 prevzame predsedovanje Svetu Evropske unije, v šestih mesecih predsedovanja prispeva k premostitvi kakšne izmed teh ovir. Ključne besede EU, Nato, Slovenija, predsedovanje Svetu EU. Abstract The aim of this article is to entice the reader to consider whether the obstacles in the way of cohesion between the European Union’s common security and defence efforts and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Organization are truly of a technical nature, or whether there are differences on other levels, in the politics, bilateral relations and national ambitions of certain members of the same organization? Whatever the case may be, the question before us is whether Slovenia can contribute to surmounting any of these obstacles during its six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, starting on 1st July. Key words EU, NATO, Slovenia, Presidency of the Council of the EU.

scholarly journals Connectivity in the Western Balkans Region - Difficulties, Challenges and Alternatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 01013
Author(s):  
Stanislav Stanev
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Policy Priority ◽  
Alternative Solutions ◽  
The Eu

The countries of the Western Balkans have declared their foreign policy priority membership not only in NATO but also in the European Union. Achieving these goals is associated with overcoming many challenges of different nature. Although not directly related to the country's de facto membership of the EU, its infrastructure and the level of its connection with its neighbors raises many of the issues important to society and forms many of its immediate priorities. Difficulties in interconnectedness between countries can have both a political and a geographical basis. In this regard, a serious challenge for the Republic of Northern Macedonia is the level of connection with its eastern and western neighbors. Almost 30 years after the declaration of independence, the infrastructure continues to follow the realities set and realized by Socialist Yugoslavia. This in turn poses many difficulties for the economic development of the whole region. A significant part of the reasons for the lack of progress are also due to purely geographical reasons, but alternative solutions can be sought to overcome the backlog in connectivity.

scholarly journals Challenges and Perspectives of the EU Accession Policy — a Reflection on Criminal Law

Lex Russica ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 143-147
Author(s):  
M. Zekić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Eu

Should we join the European Union or not? The European Union is not some imaginative goal to be pursued. It requires and offers concrete solutions. At the same time, it seeks out and establishes values and obligations to be fulfilled and inserted in a concrete political life. These obligations and values are universal and it is up to each state to assess whether the acceptance and realization of those interests and values is in its own interest. It should be borne in mind that the legal state and the rule of law, respect for human rights and freedoms, a market economy with developed social policy, fight against corruption and terrorism and many other values that the European Union stands for are essential to every democratic society and exactly these values are a goal that every human being strives for. Eurasian integration is also in favor of these values, but instead of ultimatum and conditioning, they offer a more flexible negotiation method.It is indisputable, at the moment, that in the region of the Western Balkans, the Republic of Serbia is at the back line of the European integration process. It has entered these processes as the last interested state, but in addition it constantly faces major internal problems and insufficient understanding, as well as new conditions that are constantly being set for its accession. If we add the fact that the decrease of the interest of citizens to join the European Union is currently being noticed, it is clear why the question of who to approach is becoming actualized. One of the goals of the reforms undertaken in the accession process is the harmonization of internal regulations with Communitarian Law. In doing so, it should be borne in mind that total harmonization is almost impossible.

Wpływ europeizacji na relacje cywilnowojskowe w Turcji za rządów partii AKP

2015 ◽  
pp. 118-133
Author(s):  
Maciej Herbut
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
International Context ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Constitutional Changes

The Turkish Armed Forces have played a key role in politics since the establishment of the republic in 1923. Despite the thorny relations between the civilian and military elites, the process of European integration played an extremely important role in bringing the country on a path of democratic reforms. Both opposing sides, namely the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Turkish Military (TSK), in the context of the ongoing process of European integration and a relatively high societal support for Turkey’s EU accession, seemed to accept more conciliatory approaches to each other (2001–2006). Unfortunately, starting from 2006, along with the rise of euroscepticism among Turks and the loosening of ties with the EU, the AKP and TSK adopted more antagonistic stances towards each other. The European Union and its institutions, which also influence constitutional changes in Turkey, therefore create an extremely important international context for democratisation.

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