THE EU ESDP MISSIONS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Abstract

What today increasingly tends to be characterized as the growing unity and identity of the continent of Europe is a consequence of developments and events at the end of the twentieth century. Until then, for Europe (and for today’s EU member states) more distinctions, antagonisms and different interests were characteristic than the common objectives or the common spirit of a common security policy and co-operation. The ESDP is a unique EU project that belongs to the second pillar of the EU, and aims, based on military and civil capabilities, to manage the various crises in the region and beyond and to have a diplomatic role in managing the economic, political and military crises. In the Western Balkans, the ESDP was politically and militarily engaged. In this context, the ESDP mission would be seen as a positive mission. Until today, six missions of the European security and defense policy in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have been made, of which one military and two civilians. Operation Concordia in Macedonia was undoubtedly the first NATO military mission under the EU/ESDP leadership in the framework of the “Berlin Plus” Agreement. Mission “Proxima” as a continuation of the mission “Concordia” was a civilian mission within the Macedonian police to support this and focus on the fight against organized crime. Mission “Proxima” continued to focus on the gradual stabilization of the country. In Bosnia and Hercegovina, under the EU-ESDP umbrella were two missions, a military one under the name “EUDOR -Althea” and one police mission under the name EUPM. Both the police and military missions were succeeding NATO missions. This agreement and the story of ESDP were the results of the BERLIN plus agreement. Finally, the EU-ESDP is represented with a mission in Kosovo as an agreement between UNMIK-NATO-EU/ESDP. The EULEX mission (deployment) is a civilian mission whose main purpose is to assist and support Kosovo's authorities in rule of law, especially in the police, judiciary and customs field. This is a technical mission that will monitor, instruct and advise while retaining a limited number of executive powers. EULEX acts in a general framework of United Resolution 1244 and has a unified chain of command in Brussels.