European Union’s security policies in the Western Balkans after the 1990s. Case study Kosovo

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the European Union as a security actor in the Western Balkans region after 1990—a period in which many imbalances in the security architecture challenged the capabilities of the European Union. The Kosovo case would be a perfect example in which the European Union demonstrated significant progress, transitioning from a passive actor in the 1990s to an essential actor with the will to improve its security presence in Kosovo and the Western Balkans region. The European Union’s security actorness in the Western Balkans after 1990 will be analyzed under two aspects: vertical and horizontal. The first aspect is the “Vertical Aspect,” which considers the European Union as a security actor in the Western Balkan region and the Western Balkans countries as security consumers. Meanwhile, the second aspect is the “Horizontal Aspect,” which involves examining the bilateral relations between the European Union and Western Balkans countries as partners and security providers, with a double-sided interaction. Keywords: security policies, stability Western Balkans, regional stability, European Union.