National and international political mechanisms of suppression of separatism in the Balkan states

Abstract

The article firstly identifies and reveales the essence of national and international political mechanisms of suppression of separatism that have been applied in the Balkan states, in particular, in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The national mechanisms of suppression of separatism include legal, financial, administrative, information mechanisms, and among the international political mechanisms are international legal mechanisms, the mechanism of recognition or non-recognition of the independence of new states, international financial and economic instruments. The study showed the dynamics of the most important events that took place in the Balkans after the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in particular during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991-1995, the Bosnian War in 1992–1995, and during Kosovo’s struggle for independence from Serbia. The revival of separatist movements in the Balkan Peninsula began as a result of the overthrow of the communist regimes and the strengthening of centrifugal tendencies in Central and Eastern Europe in the 90’s of the twentieth century. The interethnic distrust and constant tension became one of the reasons for the beginning of the civil wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina after the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Moreover, the article characterized the concept of «Great Albania», which involves the reunification of all the territories where the Albanian ethnic group lives. Several regions of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Epirus region in Greece and Kosovo should be part of the «Greater Albania». Furthermore, the study considers the experience of suppression of separatism of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the possibility of its use in Ukraine and other countries where separatist tendencies dominate, in order to avoid human victims, preserve territorial integrity and inviolability of borders. Consequently, separatism is a dangerous phenomenon that contains an enormous threat to the national security and territorial integrity, since it is related to the change of borders of the existing states and creation of the new countries on the political map of the world.