A European Balkans?

This European Security Forum working paper, published by
the Centre for European Policy
Studies, looks at the approach of the EU, the US and
Russia towards fostering stability and development in the Balkans
region.

At the Thessaloniki meeting of the European Council (June 2003),
the prospect was laid out for the Balkans, over time, to
be included within the European Union. How that vision is
to be fulfilled is obviously very much open to question. 

Short-term events are going to put the Balkans at the centre of
European security concerns over the coming months in the run-up to
United Nations’ discussions on Kosovo’s final status in mid-2005.
These include the Macedonian referendum, the deployment of EU
forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina (operation Altea) and the rising
aspirations of Kosovar Albanians for Kosovo’s independence, says
the study by Jacques
Rupnik, Daniel Serwer
and Boris Shmelev.

To read the study, visit the Centre for European Policy Studies website.