CURRENT SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began at the end of February 2022, confirmed the de facto impotence of the EU policy towards the Western Balkans. Only the reaffirmation of the United States of America and NATO’s roles in the Western Balkans after 2017 had a significant impact on the situation in the region, as it had for the previous three decades. The importance of their roles was confirmed after the entry of Montenegro and North Macedonia into NATO and the achievement of the Prespa Agreement (2018). However, there are still essentially unresolved issues, such as the relations between Belgrade and Pristina (which are currently accelerating primarily due to the US), the internal reconfiguration of relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the gradual attempt to suppress the further growth of Russian influence in certain states of the region (it already has a strong influence in Serbia and the BiH entity, the Republic of Srpska). In this sense, the author emphasises that only after the additional integration of the countries of the region with the European Union and NATO, which implies an accelerated continuation of the EU enlargement process but also a strengthened open-door policy, can NATO additionally ensure peace in the Western Balkans, where there are still significant and visible consequences of post-Yugoslav wars and numerous problems, such as a lack of the rule of law, an insufficient fight against corruption, and cross-border crime. Therefore, the current moment, characterised and determined by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, should ensure the acceleration of geopolitical responses related to the admission of the countries of the Western Balkans to the European Union and also empower the real and pro-European capacities of existing forms of regional cooperation. The author emphasises the necessity of accelerated integration of the remaining WB entities into NATO, which they have already pursued.

Keywords

• western balkans
• security challenges
• ukraine
• european union
• nato