eu and western balkans conflict

8/12/2019 EU and Western Balkans Conflict

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Egzon Gashi

University ofOxford

Research Country:Kosovo

September 2013

The EuropeanUnion s

Involvement inConflict in the

WesternBalkans

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This research brief was funded by a grant from the United States Department of State. The following opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IREX or the U.S. Department of State.

The United States and international community has

invested heavily in the Western Balkans over the past

two decades. More recently, the European Union has

taken the lead in attempting to stabilize and create a

European future for the region. This paper will look

specifically at the Republic of Kosovo and the progress

that has been made in the newly independent country.

The United States sees its progress as vital to stability

in the Balkan. This paper will explore the recent

agreements the European Union has facilitated in

Kosovo and explore the prospects of future success.


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RESEARCH IN CONTEXT

Generally, the European Union has beenconsidered weak in its foreign policy initiativessince its inception. The reasons for this areapparent in the fact that the internationalorganization has 28 different independent statesthat all have their own agenda. Daniel Thomasnotes that in 1995, European CommissionPresident Jacques Santer observed that theEuropean Union is simply not punching its weighton the international stage in the foreign andsecurity policy areas. While the EU had

substantive political and economic might at thetime, its influence was not in accordance with thispower. Since 1995, however, the European Unionhas increased its involvement in foreign issuesand has become considerably more active bothinternationally and on its periphery.

This research project attempts to explore the ideaof the European Union becoming more successfulin its foreign policy. In order to demonstrate thisincrease in effectiveness, the paper uses theWestern Balkans as a primary example morespecifically the Republic of Kosovo. Beginning in1990, former Yugoslavia began to disintegrateand break up along ethnic lines. What was onceone unified federal entity is now split into sevenindependent sovereign States. The fragmentationof Yugoslavia did not come without conflict; majorconflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovorepresented a dark period for Europe.

The Western Balkans was the setting of Europesworst conflict since World War II. As warsravaged in Bosnia & Herzegovina and later inKosovo, the European Union as a body had veryminimal involvement. Instead, it was the UnitedStates and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) that took the lead. While NATO includesmany European Union member states, it is anentirely separate body from the European Union.Therefore, while Western European countries

were undoubtedly involved in these conflicts, itwas not under the leadership of the EuropeanUnion.

Beginning in the early part of the 21 st century,the European Union changed and improvedupon its foreign policy initiatives. DanielTrenchov explains that cooperation representsthe common future of the EU and the Balkans.This common future leads to the need tounderstand both the external (EU) and internal(domestic politics) aspects of the Union andBalkan region. As Balkan countries becamemore willing to cooperate with the EU,agreements as well as negotiations replacedwar and strife. The European Union has been

very active in the Balkans especially inKosovo in an attempt to stabilize the regionand eventually create a European future forthe countries that were a result of the breakupof Yugoslavia. This paper explores thatinvestment and attempts to determine whetheror not it has been successful.

SCHOLAR RESEARCH BRIEF


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RESEARCH PROCESS AND RESULTS

The research relies both on primary and secondarysources to assess the role of the European Union inconflict resolution. The secondary sources includeprevious research that has already beenundertaken. Previous research includes reports onEU conflict resolution and its effectiveness,

progress reports published by EU institutions in theregion as well as policy papers on EU involvementin the Balkans. Primary sources include interviewswith civil society as well as government officials inthe Republic of Kosovo. Civil society is especiallyimportant in Kosovo because it gives an internalperspective on Kosovar perceptions of the EU aswell as their attitudes toward accession.

Additionally, elite interviews at the EU level inBrussels are particularly effective in understandingthe mindset of the European Union during times of

intervention and conflict resolution. The mindset ofthe EU is important in understanding what thepurpose of EU facilitation was and in understandingwhy the European Union wanted particularagreements.

There are many benefits to elite interviewing in aqualitative analysis; for example one obvious benefitof elite interviewing is the ability to get into contactwith people who know more about your subject orinterest than you do. By contacting political andadministrative elites, I am able to better understand

the thought-process of all actors involved during thenegotiating processes that took place in theWestern Balkans. While the ideas and opinions ofthe European Union seemed most vital, it is alsoimportant to understand what mindset local leaderswere in during said negotiations. The main purposeof the paper is to answer the question of whyKosovo was a special case of EU facilitation andsuccess and why the EU was able to fosteragreements in a region that was previously thoughtto be impenetrable by diplomacy. Interviews withelites will help further explore this question and give

a clear understanding of why there has beendiplomatic progress. As evidenced by theinefficiency of conflict resolution in the 1990s, theEuropean Union needed, at the very least, awillingness to sit and talk on the side of the leadersin the Balkans.

Interviewees were selected based on associationwith the European Union. For example, in Kosovo,the main interviewees consist of officials in EU

organizations present in the country such as theEuropean Commission Liaison Office andEULEX (the EU rule of law mission present inthe country). Additionally, interviews wereconducted in the Ministry of EuropeanIntegration as well as with different members ofcivil society who have written about Kosovo andthe EU specifically. In Serbia, there are amultitude of organizations that work closely withEU integration. These are very useful in gaininga better understanding of the Serbian position.When conducting the interviews, a series ofquestions relevant to the research were posed.Below are the questions that were asked duringmost of the interviews:

1. Could Serbia and Kosovo have come toa sustainable agreement without the helpof the international community?

2. Do you feel that, specifically, EuropeanUnion intervention was necessary in theRepublic of Kosovo?

3. How would you compare the recentagreement in Kosovo to the Ohrid

Agreement in Macedonia and the split ofSerbia and Montenegro?


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CONTINUING RESEARCH

European Union conflict resolution is still in itsdevelopmental stage. While the Western Balkansrepresents progress, only two former-Yugoslavcountries are currently in the Union: Slovenia andCroatia. If the rest of the region eventually enters

the EU, it will show that the organization has beensuccessful in its attempt to Europeanize theperiphery. Before the region is to join the EuropeanUnion, however, it is important that the agreementsand negotiations facilitated by the European Unionare actually implemented and adhered to.

In Macedonia, the Ohrid agreement has stabilizedthe country, but the stability may be temporary.Tensions between Albanians and Macedonianspersist despite the fact that war was avoided.

Similarly, the split of Serbia and Montenegro wasviewed by some to be just another example ofethnic division in the Western Balkans. Instead ofthe two countries working to keep unity and peace,division was preferred and supported. Therefore,while the European Union has been able tosuccessfully avoid war in the Balkans in the 21 st century, problems persist. Further research wouldbe vital in order to determine what the ultimateeffect of these agreements is and to determinewhether or not the methods of intervention by theEuropean Union were successful in the long term.

In Kosovo specifically, the agreement that wassigned in April of 2013 is yet to be implemented.EU-facilitated dialogue brought the two parties tothe negotiating table which was a huge step in theright direction but the actual implementation of theagreement will truly determine whether or not theEU is successful in normalizing relations.Furthermore, both Kosovo and Serbia are movingtoward EU candidacy and eventual membership.Ultimately, as previous mentioned, the success of

the EU will be determined by the stability of theregion as well as its ability to create new memberstates of the supranational organization.

RELEVANCE TO POLICY COMMUNITY

Since 1990, the United States has been veryinvolved in the Balkan region. The most significantinvestment came in the Republic of Kosovo. In1999, the United States took the lead in air strikeson Kosovo and Serbia that sought to end the

conflict between the two countries. Since 1999, theUnited States has been involved in the region viaCamp Bondsteel (the largest military base in theBalkans) as well as a Kosovo Force (KFOR). Forthis reason, a stable and European Kosovo wouldbe very beneficial to the United States. It wouldeliminate the continued need for a U.S. presence inthe region and help realize the goal of a stableBalkans. While the United States has significantinterests in keeping Camp Bondsteel in the region,the KFOR troops that are in the North of the countrycould give up their duties to local police and thereby

eliminating the need for a U.S. military presenceoutside of the base.

Another important aspect of U.S. policy that is veryrelevant to Kosovo is the idea of peace-building. Byincentivizing European Union membership, the EUis able to make peace and cooperation an attractiveoption for Balkan countries. Therefore, theincentives that the EU creates are not possible forthe United States to make. For this reason, it wouldbe in the best interest of the U.S. collaborate with

the European Union in an attempt to stabilize theregion. Essentially, the U.S. has a vested interest insupporting and advocating for the initiatives of theEU in this regard.

Lastly, the United States has taken a pledge tosupport and advocate budding democracies acrossthe world Kosovo and the rest of the Balkans aremoving toward this reality. The European Unionalso requires its member states to be democratic.Ultimately, by supporting the European Union, the

United States is able to realize its goals for theWestern Balkans while acting as a supportmechanism rather than taking the lead.


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REFERENCES

Peabody, R L et al (1990 ) Interviewing Political Elite s PS: Political Science and Politics, 23 (3) September1990: 451-455

"Serbia s Platform Will Have No Impact in the Dialogue." Independent News Agency . Web. 10 May 2013.

Thomas, Daniel. "Still Punching below Its Weight? Coherence and Effectiveness in European Union ForeignPolicy." Journal of Common Market Studies 50.3 (2012): 457-74. Print.

Tocci, Nathalie. The EU and Conflict Resolution: Promoting Peace in the Backyard . New York: Routledge,2007. Print.

Trenchov, Daniel. "The Future of the Western Balkans Integration within the EU." Analytical 08 (2012): 45-56.

ENDNOTES

Picture 1: The first picture shows a map of the current Western Balkans. The map shows the sevenindependent states that have resulted from the fragmentation of former Yugoslavia. It also lists the major

battles that have occurred in the region over the last two decades.

Picture 2: The second picture shows the European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton at aconference between the European Union and Western Balkans countries that took place in Bosnia andHerzegovina.


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This Scholar Research Brief was developed as part of the IndividualAdvanced Research Opportunities (IARO) Program , an IREXprogram funded by the U.S. Department of State. IARO supports in-depth field research by U.S. students, scholars and experts in policy-relevant subject areas related to Eastern Europe and Eurasia, as well asdisseminates knowledge about these regions to a wide network ofconstituents in the United States and abroad. The IARO Program playsa vital role in supporting the emergence of a dedicated andknowledgeable cadre of U.S. scholars and experts who can enrich theUS understanding of developments in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

ABOUT TITLE VIIIThe Title VIII Program,administered by the Bureau ofIntelligence and Research, U.S.Department of State, providesfunding for research and languagetraining to American scholars andstudents for the studyof Eastern Europe and Eurasia(Independent States of the FormerSoviet Union). Title VIII maintainsU.S. expertise in the regions andbrings open source, policy-relevantresearch to the service of the U.S.

Government.

Grants under this program areawarded through an open, nationalcompetition among applicantorganizations. Authority for thisProgram for Research andTraining on Eastern Europe andEurasia (Independent States of theFormer Soviet Union) is containedin the Soviet-Eastern EuropeanResearch and Training Act of 1983(22 U.S.C. 4501-4508, as

amended).

IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positivelasting change globally. We enable local individuals and institutions to build key elements of a vibrant society: qualityeducation, independent media, and strong communities. To strengthen these sectors, our program activities also includeconflict resolution, technology for development, gender, and youth. Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of over $70million and a staff of over 400 professionals worldwide. IREX employs field-tested methods and innovative uses oftechnologies to develop practical and locally-driven solutions with our partners in more than 100 countries.

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