Balkans In the Global Age

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

It is the principle of international law under which every nation-state has sovereignty in its territory and internal affairs, excluding all external powers, based on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of another country and expresses the equality of every state, large or small, in international law and takes its name from the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

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

The EU country with the highest unemployment rate is Greece with an unemployment rate of 17%.

Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO, is in the best position with 4% unemployment rate.

Brain Drain is one of the most important migration issues in the Western Balkans.

Croatia’s relations with Slovenia broke down due to the dispute of the sharing of Piran Bay, one of the legacies of the former Yugoslavia federation

Piran Bay: The disputed maritime delimitation area is located in the northernmost part of the Adriatic Sea which is embraced by three countries— Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia—and is called the Trieste Bay.

Protectorate: In international law, it means the protective sovereignty of one or more states over another state, and it refers not only to the relationship of protection and dependency, but also to the dependent state.

The Peace Implementation Council (PIC) granted quite extensive powers to the OHR in 1997, because Bosnian politicians were always hiding the facts during the implementation of Dayton.

Known as the Ahtisaari plan, this plan envisaged Kosovo to be independent, provided that it remained under international supervision for a specified period.

On 9 April 2008, the Kosovo Parliament approved the Kosovo constitution.

The international protection administration in Kosovo undoubtedly protects the Republic of Kosovo against Serbia and ensures Kosovo’s security.

The international protection administration in Kosovo undoubtedly protects the Republic of Kosovo against Serbia and ensures Kosovo’s security. However, this administration seriously limits Kosovo’s independence and the development of democracy and hinders the country’s institutionalization.

The Kosovo Parliament unanimously declared its independence on February 17, 2008, with the strength it gained from the declaration of independence of Montenegro in 2006, 9 years after the NATO operation.

All Balkan countries, including Serbia, have identified EU and NATO membership as their main political and military goal because these countries see the EU and NATO as the main problem-solving mechanisms and institutions in their domestic and foreign policies.

Euroscepticism “expresses the idea of a contingent, or qualified opposition, as well as incorporating outright and unqualified opposition to the process of European integration” (Taggart, 1998: 366).

Calling themselves the National Liberation Army (NLA), ethnic Albanian rebels, from early 2001 to summer, carried out attacks against North Macedonian security forces, first in several villages near the city of Tetovo and on the western border with Kosovo and then near the capital Skopje. The conflicts ended with the Ohrid Agreement, which was signed between the parties on 13 August as a result of the efforts of the EU and the US.

Since the 1990s UK policy towards the Western Balkans has been shaped by the EU’s enlargement policy, which aimed to support the gradual integration of the six Western Balkans countries.

Currently, one of China’s most important allies in the Balkans is Serbia. In August 2009, Serbian President Boris Tadic went to China and a strategic cooperation agreement was signed between the two countries.