WESTERN BALKANS DOSSIER - Nato Defense College Foundation

This Special Issue is the crowning product of ten years of unrelenting activity by the Foundation, the only officially recognised by NATO, on this area that is critical for the future of the Alliance and of Europe as a whole.

It stems from the Strategic Balkans project whose objectives are: follow the integration trajectory of the countries in the Euro-Atlantic community; analyse through the Strategic Trends its essential orientations; pinpoint with the Strategic Balkans press review the regional strategic highlights and its evolving Euro-Atlantic perceptions; stimulate the debate with papers and food for thought articles and connect practitioners and social leaders on the security issues tackling interstate (energy security, hybrid threats, etc.) and non-state risks (terrorism, trafficking, organised crime etc.) affecting the peninsula.

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POLITICAL SUMMARY

Alessandro Politi | Director

These web page and Dossier are co-sponsored by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Alessandro Minuto Rizzo President

FOREWORD

Alessandro Politi

POLITICAL SUMMARY

Articles

After 30 years, what is the result of war?

Ivan Vejvoda

A war happened in Europe at the end of the 20th Century. A war that should never have happened on a continent that was bred in the post-World War II period under the slogan “Never Again”. And yet 30 years ago in 1991 a war began in Europe in one country. Yugoslavia, more precisely the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) disintegrated and fragmented, through a bloody disastrous self-implosion. One state that became seven states.

An endless transition

Gentiola Madhi

Three decades after the fall of communism, Western Balkans’ democratization process is still going through a rollercoaster ride and the prospects remain weak. The establishment of formal democratic institutions and procedures is constantly challenged by abuses of power, conflicting narratives, growing scepticism and reform stagnation. The deeply-rooted problems cannot be overcome overnight and the preservation of the status quo no longer provides stability to the region.

The unviable economies

Valbona Zeneli

After more than three decades of transition and a triple dip economic recession, economic security remains the main challenge in the Western Balkans. Unemployment, poverty, corruption, and brain drain are the main challenges that threaten the everyday security of average citizens in the region. Suffering from a lack of competitiveness and dangerous public debts, the current Covid-19 crisis has further exacerbated existing structural problems, deteriorating people’s social and economic conditions, and threatening hopes of future convergence with western advanced economies.

Civil societies - enlarging freedoms

Arne Sannes Bjørnstad

If Western Balkans are to achieve stability and sustainable economic progress, we must support the development of a strong civil society. The transformation from the Socialist and authoritarian regimes of last century to mature liberal democracies is not yet completed in the region. To strengthen the positive developments and prevent backsliding, the checks and balances must be reinforced and supported. Civil society is having a vital role in moving the transformation forward.

Twenty years of NATO and the Western Balkans

Silvia Maretti

Quote by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, during his speech given in front of the United States Congress on 4 April 2019, in the occasion of the 70th Anniversary of the signature of the North Atlantic Treaty: “Time and again, Europe and North America have served together under the same flag. For the same cause of freedom and democracy. Deterring the Soviet Union. Bringing stability to the Western Balkans. Fighting terrorism in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Changing as the world around us changes. As we look together towards a more unpredictable world, we continue to stand shoulder to shoulder”.

The Brussels Perspective

Michela Matuella

The Western Balkans region is an integral part of our continent; we share the same history and the same culture. It is our firm conviction that the reunification of Europe, which started with the great enlargement in 2004, will only be completed once the entire Western Balkans region is inside the European Union. The political and economic logic that underpins the European Union applies equally to the Western Balkans. Economically the region is already very closely linked to the European Union.