scholarly journals Evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkan countries in the context of their European and Euro-Atlantic

2021 ◽  
pp. 143-157
Author(s):  
Mariana Echimovich ◽  
Vitaliy Alekseevich Danilov ◽  
Zarina Fazlitdinovna Mardonova ◽  
Maxim Kirillovich Karpukhin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Balkan Countries

This article traces the evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkan countries in the context of their European and Euro-Atlantic integration over the period from the mid-1990s to 2020. The key goal lies in the analysis of formation and development of the European and Euro-Atlantic vectors in foreign policy of the Western Balkans. The relevance of the selected topic is defined by fact that all Western Balkan countries are somehow involved in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes, which prompts transformations in their home and foreign policy. In post-Cold War era, the Western Balkans depart from their foreign policy course, which they have followed since the end of the World War II. The conflicts that were related to dissolution of Yugoslavia underline the expansion of influence of the North Atlantic Alliance as the major “peacekeeper”, and the European Union, which took on the role of post-conflict settlement. In the under their influence. Tracing the evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkans within the framework of their European and Euro-Atlantic integration defines the scientific novelty of this research. The acquired conclusions can be implemented in theoretical and practical activity. The article explores the regional initiatives of NATO and EU, which were aimed at stabilization of the Western Balkan region through transformation of state and social institutions, development of interstate cooperation, and involvement in regional integration processes. For determination of the role of the European Union and NATO in foreign policy of the Western Balkans, the author analyzed the doctrinal documents of the Western Balkan countries, which highlighted the priority of European and Euro-Atlantic vector.

scholarly journals Limits of the EU’s transformative power and the Western Balkans

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-49
Author(s):  
Maja Kovacevic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is a unique player in the Western Balkans, where it has employed a wide array of foreign policy instruments since the 1990s such as diplomacy, trade, financial assistance, civilian missions, military missions, and enlargement, which is the EU?s most successful foreign policy tool. The region is an inspiring case for studying the EU?s transformative power. The undeniable success of the EU?s Enlargement Policy in influencing transitions of Central and Eastern Europe countries has inspired research of the Europeanization, or the EU?s transformative power in relation to candidate countries, and its impact on their political and economic reforms during the accession process. Since then, the EU?s global transformative power has been in crisis. The European Neighbourhood Policy was reviewed in 2015, aiming not any more towards the transformation of neighbouring states, but rather at fostering their resilience. Similarly, the 2016 Global Strategy for the European Union?s Foreign and Security Policy set the principled pragmatism as a guideline. Moreover, the EU?s transformative power towards member states is questioned after two initiatives to trigger Article 7 TEU procedures against Poland and Hungary. What about the Europeanization of the Western Balkans? Despite the fact that the EU has been the main driver of change, the Europeanization of this post-conflict region has been slow. According to Freedom House, after substantial progress from 2004 to 2010, the Western Balkans has declined six years in a row, and its average Democracy Score in 2016 is the same as it was in 2004. With the exception of Albania, the scores of all countries are declining, not improving. The EU?s security-democratisation dilemma strongly affects its transformative power in the Western Balkans. By prioritising effective government rather than democratic governance, the EU has helped stabilise non-democratic and corrupt regimes rather than transforming them, legitimising Balkan "stabilitocrats".

scholarly journals Analysis of the alignment of public policies development in the Western Balkan countries with the European Union standards

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-45
Author(s):  
Nevenko Vranješ
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
European Union ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Business Community ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Balkan Countries

The process of creation, development, adoption and enforcement of public policy presents an exceptionally challenging issue for several reasons. First of all, public policies are used to identify and resolve certain social problems and social issues, them being their primary aim. Furthermore, public policy articulates the aims of governing political subject, through which they strive to realize their programs. And finally, public policy satisfies certain needs of citizens and business community. It is therefore very difficult to achieve the full correlation of these three goals while simultaneously fulfill all genuine needs of society and ideological and political goals of governing elites. Something like this presents a challenge in the complex societies of post-conflict and countries of post-socialist transition, as Western Balkans countries are considered to be. Namely, for many decades such environments had a narrowly set and monolithic approach to the projection of public policy, though the concept of their strategic planning was radically revised a decade ago and entered into a completely different qualitative and quantitative phase. The subject of this paper is the Analysis of the alignment of public policies development in the Western Balkan countries with the European Union standards. The paper will envelop a brief review of public policy adoption process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania. The pillar in the presentation of the said countries constitutes the existing criteria and tools which were projected and evaluated by SIGMA-OECD organization, with the aim to converge public administrations of Western Balkans countries with European administrative region. The paper uses the methods of legal exegesis, content analysis, comparative methods, principles and indicators of SIGMA-OECD, and provides an empirical review of the assessment of the situation conducted on the given thematic by the said organization.

WESTERN BALKANS’ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESSES

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 116-121
Author(s):  
Maria A. Maksakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Commission ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
The Common ◽  
Integration Stage

The article examines the state of the Western Balkans’ economies in the pre-2020 period (before the COVID-XNUMX pandemic), highlights the key problems that impede more dynamic development of the region, assesses the role of the European Union at the pre-integration stage of the Balkan countries’ inclusion into the common European space. The author pays special attention to considering the issues of economic development of Serbia through the prism of European integration processes, which the country is actively involved in. Based on the European Commission reports, an analysis of the compliance of the achieved indi-cators with the Copenhagen criteria and the articles of the negotiation dossier is carried out.

The promotion of security sector reform strategies: Comparing the roles of the European Union and Canada

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Vandemoorteele
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Security Sector Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Common Policy

This article analyzes the role of the European Union (EU) and Canada in the promotion of Security Sector Reforms (SSR) activities in two regional organizations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The concept of SSR seeks to address the effective governance of security in post-conflict environment by transforming the security institutions within a country in order for them to have more efficient, legitimate and democratic role in implementing security. Recent debates within the EU have led to the adoption of an SSR concept from the Council and a new strategy from the European Commission on the SSR activities. Within the framework of the ESDP, the EU has positioned itself as a leading actor, in this domain, including in its crisis management operations. On the other hand, Canada, through its whole-of government and human security programs has also been an important actor in the promotion of SSR activities. Yet, even though several international organizations (including the United Nations, the OSCE and NATO) are effectively doing SSR activities on the ground, there does not exist a common framework within any of these organizations despite the role of the EU and Canada. As such, it is surprising to found no global common policy for SSR while this approach is precisely holistic in its foundations. Taking these elements into consideration, this paper analyzes two specific aspects : a) the absence of a common policy framework within international organizations and b) the major differences between the approaches of the OSCE and NATO in the domain of SSR and the implications for the EU and Canada’ roles.   Full extt available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v3i2.186

scholarly journals Unia Europejska wobec Bałkanów Zachodnich w kontekście kryzysu migracyjnego w latach 2015‑2019

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3(66)) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Wawrzyniec Banach
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
Research Goal ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
The Eu

European Union towards Western Balkans in the Context of Migration Crisis 2015‑2019 The aim of the article is to analyse the actions taken by the European Union towards the Western Balkans in the context of the migration crisis. The study assumes that the migration crisis was an important factor accelerating the accession process of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union. In order to fulfil the research goal, an analysis of sources (European Union documents) was conducted. The paper uses elements of the theory of the regional security complex as a theoretical framework. Firstly, the activities of the European Union before the migration crisis are discussed. Next, the paper focuses on presenting the course of the crisis on the Western Balkan route. The further part of the study discusses the actions taken by the EU towards the countries of the Western Balkans in response to the migration crisis.

scholarly journals SOLIDARITY CHECK IN TIMES OF COVID-19. ANALYSIS OF THE EU APPROACH TOWARDS ITS CLOSEST NEIGHBOURS WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON MONTENEGRO

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Đurić ◽  
Bojana Lalatović
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Member States ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
The Eu

Solidarity as one of the cornerstone values of the European Union has been once again seated on the red chair and intensively discussed within the European Union and broader. After the economic recession and migrant crisis that marked the last two decades, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has once again harshly tested the fundamental objectives and values of the European Union and the responsiveness and effectiveness of its governance system on many fronts. In April, 2020 several EU Member States were among the worst affected countries worldwide and this situation soon became similar in their closest neighbourhood. It put a huge pressure on the EU to act faster, while at the same time placing this sui generis community to the test that led to revealing its strengths and weaknesses. As it happened in the previous crises, the Union launched policies and various programmes that were meant to lessen the burden of the Member States and aspiring countries caused by the crises. The objectives of the mentioned soft law instruments that the EU adopted during the COVID-19 crisis has been not only to show that EU law is equipped to react to health and economic crises rapidly but to deliver its support in terms of solidarity to its Member States and its closest neighbours facing the unprecedented health and economic crisis. This article will explore the value and implication of the solidarity principle in times of Covid-19 in its various manifestations. A special focus will be on the financial and material aspects of the EU instruments created to combat the negative consequences of the pandemic and their further impact on shaping the solidarity principle within the EU system. While examining the character and types of these mechanisms a special focus will be placed on those available to Western Balkan countries, whereas Montenegro as the “fast runner” in the EU integration process will be taken as a case study for the purpose of more detailed analyses. One of the major conclusions of the paper will be that although the speed of the EU reactions due to highly complex structure of decision making was not always satisfying for all the actors concerned, the EU once again has shown that it is reliable and that it treats the Western Balkan countries as privileged partners all for the sake of ending pandemic and launching the socio-economic recovery of the Western Balkans. Analytical and comparative methods will be dominantly relied upon throughout the paper. This will allow the authors to draw the main conclusions of the paper and assess the degree of solidarity as well as the effectiveness of the existing EU instruments that are available to Montenegro and aimed at diminishing negative consequences of the crisis.

From a Protectorate to a Member State of the European Union

2022 ◽  
pp. 278-296
Author(s):  
Liliana Reis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Member State ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Academic Debate

The European Union was present in Kosovo even before the declaration of its independence. However, it was after 2008 and at the request of the Kosovar authorities to EU that Kosovo inaugurated a period of close ties with the organization, through the rule of law mission it launched for the country and through various programs of the European Commission, including the European Partnership Action Plan (EPAP) for Kosovo, Mechanism of the Stabilization and Association Process, and the Instrument of Pre-Accession (IPA). This chapter seeks to examine the evolution of European presence on Kosovo by analysing EULEX mission and other European instruments and the achievements by newly former states in achieving the Copenhagen criteria, contributing to the academic debate on the role of European Union aid in the new Western Balkans states for their emancipation and possible access to the organization. It also evaluates the mutualisation of responsibilities and maintenance of the European status quo in Kosovo, fostering a protectorate in an independent state.

8. EU Expansion and Wider Europe

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Avery
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
European Neighbourhood Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
The Eu

This chapter focuses on the expansion of the European Union and the widening of Europe. Enlargement is often seen as the EU's most successful foreign policy. It has extended prosperity, stability, and good governance to neighbouring countries by means of its membership criteria. However, enlargement is much more than foreign policy: it is the process whereby the external becomes internal. It is about how non-member countries become members, and shape the development of the EU itself. The chapter first compares widening and deepening before discussing enlargement as soft power. It then explains how the EU has expanded and why countries want to join. It also looks at prospective member states: the Balkan countries, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland. Finally, it examines the European Neighbourhood Policy.

scholarly journals Mirroring transitional justice. Construction and impact of European Union ICTY-conditionality

Südosteuropa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niké Wentholt
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
War Experiences ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe European Union (EU) developed a state-building strategy for the aspiring member states in the Western Balkans. Demanding full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the EU made transitional justice part of the accession demands. Scholars have recently criticized the EU’s limited focus on retributive justice as opposed to restorative justice. This paper goes beyond such impact-orientated analyses by asking why the EU engaged with retributive transitional justice in the first place. The EU constructed ICTY-conditionality by mirroring its own post-Second World War experiences to the envisioned post-conflict trajectory of the Western Balkans. The EU therefore expected the court to contribute to reconciliation, democratization and the rule of law. Using Serbia as a case study, this article examines the conditionality’s context, specificities and discursive claims. Finally, it relates these findings to the agenda of a promising regional initiative prioritizing restorative justice (RECOM) and sheds new light on the impact of ICTY-conditionality on transitional justice in the Western Balkans.

scholarly journals Integration Practices in Migration Management: Experience of Some European Union Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-99
Author(s):  
Olga A. Persidskaya
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Host Community ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
Integration Policies

The paper considers institutional mechanisms and substantive approaches to managing the processes of migrant integration into the host community. The analysis is carried out in the framework of studying practical models for regulating the transformation of polyethnic communities and uses data from several countries in the European Union. It is shown that the models of practical regulation of integration processes are based on the understanding of integration as a two-way process and are primarily expressed in changes in social institutions and relations between them. Thus, at the supranational level a combination of directive and recommendatory forms of influence on integration policies is significant, at the national level – the principles of individual and inclusive approaches within the framework of the introduction of a set of regulatory policies of the “mainstream”, at the local level – integration initiatives of the municipal level and interaction with the non-governmental sector. Of special note is the significant role of monitoring integration processes and integration policies. It has been noted that integration practices in Russia are based on understanding integration as a one-sided process and contribute to the realization of its cultural function, while in the EU countries – to its structural and social functions. The paper offers the conclusion about the possibility of applying some of the considered mechanisms and approaches in strategies for managing and regulating migration processes in the Russian Federation.

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