Review article
POSTCONFLICTUAL FRAMEWORKS OF REGIONAL SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE: EU INITIATIVES
Sandro Knezović
; Institute for International Relations, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Following the fall of the Berlin wall, the foreign policy priorities
of the former socialist countries have been the EU and the NATO
rapprochement as a guarantee of their economic, military, and political stability. The least progress has been made by the countries of Europe’s south-east due to that region’s specific circumstances. The
combination of unresolved national issues, historical grievances and,
above all, the bloodshed and the war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia have pushed this region further from the European integrations.
Incoherent policies of international actors, and particularly the
disunited Europe, have not helped to resolve the conflicts besetting
this region. After the cessation of the armed hostilities, the international community and especially the EU, wishing to stabilize the region, have designed a plethora of aid programs; they have also promoted the rapprochement with the European integrations. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the stabilizational frameworks for the region as well as their success in the promotion of regional cooperation and the process of reform in all areas, as well as in accelerating the overall progress of the countries of this region on their way to the full EU membership. The authors also dwell on the necessity of resolving the other crucial problems (especially the statutory issues between Serbia and Montenegro and in Bosnia-Herzegovina) in this decisive moment for the future of this region, and the key role and responsibility of the EU thereof.
Keywords
regional security; south-east Europe; postconflictual studies
Hrčak ID:
20549
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2006.
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