Elizabeth Pond: After years of resentment aimed at the West, Serbia has developed a distinctly pro-EU stance. The EU model of soft power and prosperity has led Serbia to a turning point in its relations with not only the European institutions, but also its neighbors in the historically turbulent Balkan region.
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NATO: Important challenges remain, yet Bosnia and Herzegovina has made a remarkable turnaround in the 15 years, since NATO deployed its first-ever peacekeeping force there in December 1995 to implement the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
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Olaf Theiler: The EU should draw on NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program, as an example of a successful framework to be adopted for aspiring member states in the Balkans. If implemented as part of an extended offer, this framework could link ESDP with Neighborhood Policy, thereby creating incentives for cooperation.
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Memo 18: More than a decade after the Dayton Agreement West Balkan countries are fighting over EU membership and against the resurgence of nationalist forces. These factors presently contribute to the emergence of renewed conflict potential. The European Union and Turkey have a key role to play as mediators.
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Rudi Guraziu: The EU seems to have made its political decision as far as visa liberalization for the West Balkans is concerned. However, by excluding the two nations who have suffered the most during the conflict it risks stability in the region.
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Daniel Korski: If there is one thing the EU is proud of, it is the bloc’s Balkan record. From a region torn apart in the mid-1990s, a new one has emerged. However, progress in Bosnia-Herzegovina has ceased. It will take a clear aim and a tougher EU approach for Bosnian politicians to start behaving responsibly and building a state that has a future in Europe.
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Editorial Team: The delicate power equilibrium in the West Balkans is currently far from the media’s spotlights. But rising tensions in Bosnia, the Croatian-Slovenian conflict, and Kosovo’s still fragile democracy all suggest that Europe’s political powder keg cannot be ignored. Atlantic Community has therefore initiated this Theme Week, featuring international Balkans experts.
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Alexandros P. Mallias: A clear prospect of EU membership is the most effective tool in helping countries of the western Balkans overcome their current challenges. Mallias presents a new strategic agenda for the western Balkans building on the Thessaloniki Agenda of 2003.
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The Dayton Agreement ended a war, but it also institutionalized ethnicity as the predominant feature of Bosnian social and political identity. ++ There has been little room for other minorities, since they had no seat at the negotiating table which was exclusively reserved for those who used weapons. ++ Europe and the United States need to assist Bosnia in reforming its constitution. ++
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Increasing political tensions in former Yugoslav republics make Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s diplomatic efforts indispensable. ++ “Bosnia has obtruded itself upon Turkish diplomacy,” which follows its proactive policy approach in all neighboring states. ++ The Foreign Minister blocked the Serbian Republic’s attempt to take power from the High
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It has to be said out loud that the EU project will not be complete as long as all Balkan countries are not allowed to join: letting in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania is crucial for progress and peace on the continent. ++ The EU states cannot leave these countries “dangling in a pit of constant evasion” and must finally give this process a momentum to match
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