Suchergebnisse

Balkan er midt i alle EU's kriser og sideløbende foregår en proces frem mod at indlemme alle Balkanlande i EU.

Aus jugoslawischer Sicht

Conceptual and theoretical issues of foreign aid in post-conflict, transition region are discussed. Two examples are presented in an informal manner. The first is about the incoherence of aid for reconstruction and policies of transition. The second is about the role of expected institutional change that the process of European Union integration provides and the comparative role of aid for institution building. Hypothesis are developed that will be considered in the further work on aid in the Balkans.

Rehabilitating Serbia, by Marten van Heuven; Punishing Serbia, by Hodding Carter.

The paper analyzes the negative perception of the Balkans, with special reference to the Western Balkans, as a newly introduced political concept. The author explains the historical and political environment through which the negative image of the Balkans is built, indicating that this region was separated and precipitated as "otherness" in relation to Europe. Based on that analogy, the author explains how the Western Balkans now find themselves in a position of "otherness" in relation to the rest of the Balkan countries (which have become articles of the EU). The violent past, the "curse of small differences" and unresolved political conflicts make the Western Balkans a problematic region under the watchful eye of major powers. The point where the interests of all the countries of the Western Balkans can coincide is European integration, which indicates the "common destiny" of this region.

The purpose of this article is to identify the policy orientations of Russia in the Balkans. The historical aspects of Russia's political and cultural ties with the Balkan region, Russia's policy toward the Balkans during the USSR period will be highlighted. As the Balkans are an important factor in Russia's geopolitical game to retain influence in Europe, the author analyses Russia's contemporary policy in the Balkans, its interests and the measures taken to achieve its specific goals. It can be concluded that Russian involvement in some Balkan countries is exhausting the elements of the hybrid war. Two possible models of geopolitical behavior in relation to Russia could be distinguished. The first is to continue trying to stay as far away from Russia, the second is to build effective mechanisms for socio-economic cooperation. It can be implied that Russia will not hesitate to repeat the hybrid war scenario from Ukraine in order to maintain its political influence in the region. Only the return of the EU to a consistent policy of enlargement to Balkan countries and the economic strengthening of the Member States from the Balkan region can weaken Russia's political influence in the region.

This chapter addresses the perspective of the European Union as a Multi-Speed Europe, in which in a Balkan context, member states participate in common policies and choose the ones they are (or are not) willing and able to participate in. The integration experience witnesses a Multi-speed approach to European integration, as may be demonstrated in the cases of the European Monetary Union and the Schengen Agreement, in which not all the member states participate. The goal of this paper is to apply the Multi-speed model within the Balkan states – in the concrete cases of Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, within the circles of integration, and in the process of European integration in general, thereby creating a model of Multi-Speed Balkans.