BALKANLAR - Deneme Sınavı - 8

Correct answer is E

After the disintegration of Yugoslavia, there were four wars in the Balkans between 1990 and 1995: Slovenia, Croatia, BosniaHerzegovina and Kosovo Wars.

Greece is the oldest EU member of the Balkans.

Kosovo has the highest unemployment rate in Europe, at 25.3%.

Besides, after completing the EU accession process in 2013, Croatia was one of the most problem-free states in the region.

Organized crime is one of the chronic problems in the Balkans. Only
Croatia and Slovenia have taken important steps in their fight against organized crime with the help of the EU.

After several years of conferences and multilateral negotiations, the Pact of Balkan Entente was signed on February 9, 1934.

The war, which lasted about three and a half years, ended only with the United States taking a clear stance on December 14, 1995, when the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed in Paris.

It can be argued that thanks to both agreements, it was tried to secure the borders for the upcoming World War II.

The Saadabad Pact, a few years after the Pact of Balkan Entente, was signed by Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan in 1937.

With the Pact of Balkan Entente, it can be argued that the first achievement of Turkish foreign policy was the Straits question. Turkey’s demands on straits, was responded positively by the Balkan countries of Bulgaria (not a member of the pact), Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and in 1936 the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits signed and came into force.

During the Cold War, three states in the region predominated in Turkey’s Balkan policy: Bulgaria, Greece and Yugoslavia

Turkey chose to act cautiously in foreign policy towards the Balkans in the early 1990s. Thee dissolution of Yugoslavia was not the only development related to the period, military intervention of the USA in Iraq (The Gulf War) and after the dissolution of the USSR and the establishment of new states in Central Asia and the Caucasus also affected its foreign policy. Rapprochement between Greece and Syria was also effective.

While Slovenia and Croatia were seeking to gain their independence and become Central European states, Serbia and Montenegro defended the idea of a federation, but Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia wanted to the continuation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, hesitating from the Serbian sovereignty.

South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) that brings together Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Greece, Croatia, Moldova and Montenegro is a symbol of the common will of the countries of the region to improve cooperation among themselves and to bring lasting stability in South East Europe.

The country with the highest import was Romania. In 2019, approximately 140,000 cars of USA origin were produced in Romania, and approximately 350,000 vehicles were produced from the automobile brand that was originally from Romania and acquired by a French brand (Romania-Insider, 2020). Because especially the French automobile brand, it is one of the most in-demand options in Turkey.

Turkey is also a member of the customs union that includes Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia and Greece.

In November 2005, the UN Secretary General sent former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari to Kosovo as a special representative to determine Kosovo’s status. Ahtisaari began his work, which would also win him the 2008 Nobel Prize, and led negotiations with both sides for 15 months. At the end of this process, he prepared a plan for the status of Kosovo in March 2007. Known as the Ahtisaari plan, this plan envisaged Kosovo to be independent, provided that it remained under international supervision for a specified period.

The Kosovo Parliament unanimously declared its independence on February 17, 2008.

The United States has a great influence on Kosovo’s military security policies.