Search

Begin New Search Topic Russia-Ukraine War Political Geography Western Balkans

1. The European Union’s major enlargement to the East and Western Balkans

Author:
Vicente Palacio
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:
The geopolitical urgency created in Europe by the Russian invasion and the war in Ukraine has moved the project of a ‘major enlargement’ to the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) and to the East (Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia) at the top of the European political agenda. This new enlargement could transform the EU in a fundamental way. After the Informal European Council of June 2002, the recent informal European Council summit held in Granada on 6 October under the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU expressed consensus on the intention to undertake that enlargement. That set off a long process in which this ‘major enlargement’ needs to be addressed in terms of four aspects: how it is done (institutions and reforms); how and how much is invested in it (resources); what it is invested in (policies) and where it is invested (geographical areas).
Topic:
European Union, Geopolitics, Regional Politics, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Europe and Western Balkans

2. Balkan Csárdás: Hungarian Foreign Policy Dance

Author:
Srđan Cvijić, Ivana Ranković, Luka Šterić, Maja Bjeloš, and Marko Drajic
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
Abstract:
Since Orbán reassumed power in 2010, the Hungarian government has taken a more active role in the Western Balkans. In a short time period, it has increased its political and economic footprint. This paper is one of few all-encompassing efforts to explain Hungarian policy and involvement in the Western Balkans, and it attempts to do so by asking the following questions: What interests and strategic considerations drive Hungarian foreign and trade policy in the region? Who formulates foreign policy priorities in Hungary and what is the interplay between formal and informal actors? What economic interests shape Hungarian foreign policy in the region? How much has Hungarian foreign policy in the region changed as a result of the war in Ukraine? To answer these questions, this paper is divided into four main sections. The first focuses on Hungary’s foreign policy strategy in the region. The second, as a special case study, investigates the effects of Orbán’s minority politics in Serbia’s Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Vajdaság in Hungarian). The third, researching the Hungarian media empire in the region, and finally the fourth focuses on the economic drivers of Hungary’s approach in the region. The paper builds upon numerous secondary sources and online and in-person interviews conducted with 19 government representatives, politicians, foreign policy experts, scholars, and journalists from Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Trade, Regional Economy, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Europe, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Western Balkans

3. Messy Diplomacy: Western Balkan Countries Facing the Gaza Conflict

Author:
Srđan Cvijić and Vuk Vuksanović
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
Abstract:
The ongoing war that Israel is waging in Gaza against Hamas is one of the most consequential conflicts with serious political implications worldwide. The Gaza conflict has already diverted the world’s attention from what has been the most dominant international conflict in the past year and a half: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Many countries in the Western Balkans are conflicted about what diplomatic stance to take on the Gaza war, primarily whether they should support Israel or Palestine or remain neutral since their decision-making will have to balance their domestic public, as well as their ties with Israel, Muslim countries and, most importantly, the US and the EU. The vote taken on October 26 in the UN General Assembly (hereinafter: UNGA) on the resolution that called for a truce between Israel and Hamas with a strong emphasis on humanitarian factors demonstrated how conflicted the Western Balkan countries were on the current conflict in Gaza. The pattern of division among the Western Balkan countries on this occasion somewhat diverges from the votes cast in different UN fora in the past decade. Whereas Albania and North Macedonia have continued with their previous positions when it comes to their foreign policy toward the conflict in the Middle East, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia have displayed an interesting change.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Hamas, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Western Balkans