Stabilization And Association Process Research Articles

The “Visegrad Inititative “VIS-À-VIS“ Open Balkan Inititative” in the process of European Integration

Following the collapse of the communist regimes, in Central European countries, the belief that collaborative efforts could facilitate both social transformation and European integration, served as a key motivation for establishing of the Visegrad Group (V4), comprising of Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. In Southeastern Europe, given the war conflicts that occurred during the 1990s, in 1999, the EU Council initiated the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) to encourage Western Balkans countries (WB) to cooperate among themselves and confirmed their eligibility for EU membership. After the V4 countries joined the EU, the Visegrad Declaration on cooperation in 2004 emphasized the idea of supporting the European integration of neighboring regions, including the Western Balkan region. From 2004 to the present day, the WB countries have applied for EU membership, and they have been granted EU candidate country status. In 2014 they became a part of the Berlin process (BP)initiative and for three of them – Albania, North Macedonia (N. Macedonia) and Serbia – accession negotiations with EU have already been opened. These three countries launched the Mini Schengen initiative in 2019, which was transformed into Open Balkan initiative (OB3) in 2021. Since that both Visegrad and Open Balkan in itiatives aim to enhance interstate cooperation and facilitate European integration process for their respective countries, the purpose of this paper is to consider the role of regional organizations and initiatives in accelerating the integration process, to examine whether the OB3 can draw valuable lessons from V4 experience and to elucidate how V4 supports the integration process of OB3.

Advancing European Integration in Central and Eastern Europe: A Comprehensive Examination of Reconciliation and Collaborative Progress in the Western Balkans

This article examines the European Union’s integration efforts in the Western Balkans within the broader context of Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on the challenges and strategies post-Yugoslavia. It outlines the EU’s application of “conditionality” in guiding candidate countries towards democratic governance and market-oriented economies, emphasizing the Copenhagen Criteria for accession. The text explores the unique challenges faced by the Western Balkans, including historical conflicts and political turbulence, and discusses the EU’s Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) as a mechanism for facilitating integration. Additionally, it highlights the importance of legal reforms, cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the advancement of ethnic harmony and minority rights as prerequisites for EU membership. The article concludes with an assessment of regional cooperation and the progress towards reconciliation, underscoring the EU’s role in promoting stability and development in the region.

Importance of EU Integration for Biodiversity and Nature Conservation in Transboundary Protected Areas (TPAs) in the Western Balkan

There are many important protected areas in the Western Balkan region, which are shared between Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Greece. These areas have special importance based on their species density (mosses and higher plants) per surface unit. These transboundary ecosystems, which include mountainous massifs, lakes, and rivers, are biodiversity hotspots for the whole of Europe. Species and habitat densities are high compared to other countries in Southeast Europe. However, political borders fragment properly across two or three countries, which often have different approaches and rules for nature protection and the use of resources. Hence, in this short opinion piece, we stress common and cooperative transboundary protection and management in these countries. Furthermore, the European Union’s policy towards the Western Balkan countries in the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), with the goal of their eventual EU membership, is crucial. Therefore, our appeal is addressed not only to the respective local communities and national governments but also to the European Commission and related EU institutions. We stress the importance of these cross-border ecosystems in the integration process.

The Open Balkans and the Impact on EU Membership

The Open Balkans and the Impact on EU Membership

Stabilisation and association agreement between the Western Balkan countries and the European Union

The European Union (EU) represents a certain partnership and alliance between states and countries. It is not governed as the United States of America, nor intergoverned as the United Nations. Member States of the EU are sovereign countries united to become privileged and globally successful. Every enlargement of the Union is significant, but the fifth enlargement has been recognised, so far, as the most significant, showing the unification of Eastern and Western Europe. However, the most significant enlargement is yet to come with the Western Balkan countries becoming Member States of the EU (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia), considering the political and economic situation of the region. The European Commission has proposed the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) for South East Europe, as the most significant frame for the EU to ensure relations with the Western Balkan countries and to direct its overall enlargement policy to this part of Europe. Associations of the Western Balkans are usually negative, referring to weak economic development, wars and political instability, which have led to the pre-accession strategy for the EU membership known as the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). The aim of this paper is to present the progress of the Western Balkan countries towards the EU membership, their current state, and the problems they face on that path and to explain the SAP and the SAA.

ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЙ ИНТЕГРАЦИИ БАЛКАН

The article examines current stage of the Western Balkans’ integration into Europe and prospects for joining the European Union. Based on the analysis of the European Commission reports on the integration progress of the countries, the fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria, the requirements of the nego-tiation dossier articles and the conditions of the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), the author as-sesses the strengths and weaknesses of the Balkan states to bring internal norms and rules in line with Eu-ropean requirements. Particular attention is paid to new approaches to candidate countries and new EU strat-egy in the Western Balkans.

Between Border Dispute and Ethnic Conflict: The EU as a Just Mediator in the Serbia-Kosovo Stalemate

This paper analyses the contribution of the European Union (EU) to global justice and ethno-national conflict resolution between Kosovo and Serbia through its rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX), the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP), and the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. The paper argues that an observed inability of the EU to resolve the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo stems from inconsistent and often contradictory normative drivers in the EU’s policy towards Serbia and Kosovo. The normative drivers are part of the EU’s commitment to achieving global justice through its foreign policy. To better understand and disaggregate these justice concerns, the paper utilises the GLOBUS global justice framework, which distinguishes between three conceptions of global justice: justice as non-domination, justice as impartiality and justice as mutual recognition. The paper identifies the ideal-situation policy choices in conflict management, which are in line with the respective conceptions of global justice. The paper then assesses the EU’s actions in Serbia and Kosovo and their effects on the ground against these ideal-type scenarios. The analysis reveals the key policy dilemmas the EU faces on the ground and argues that these dilemmas hinder their efforts in resolving the resolution of the frozen conflict between Serbia and Kosovo. The paper relies on both documentary data and interviews with stakeholders in Kosovo and Serbia that are affected by the EU’s actions, including civil society, businesses and governmental agencies.

REFOCUSING THE EUROPEAN UNION ATTENTION ON THE WESTERN BALKANS: THE IMPACT OF THE BERLIN PROCESS

The expectations of the Western Balkans (WB) on the EU membership perspective could have been ‘undermined’ with the halt in the EU enlargement process as declared by the former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in 2014. In the meantime, even though the WB countries were part of the EU’s regional approach through the mechanism of Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) working on the implementation of the Acquis Communautaire, the slowing down of the integration process could have economic and political consequences and threaten the regional stability. This paper shows how the Berlin Process (2014) was the proper intergovernmental initiative taken by some EU Member States to keep alive the EU integration perspective of the WB, thus refocusing the EU attention on the challenges the WB was facing on the way towards EU integration.

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND TRANSNATIONAL JUSTICE IN THE WESTERN BALKANS: A CASE STUDY OF CROATIA AND SERBIA

Among the many international bodies and organizations that have made transitional justice a precondition for cooperation is the European Union (EU), The Union‟s strong advocacy for human rights, democracy and transitional justice during reconciliation of the Western Balkans is one of the factors that led to the bestowal of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize ("The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 to the European Union”). This article will address the role of the EU in creating security within Europe in relation to the transitional justice that is taking place within the Western Balkans. The Union‟s involvement in the reconciliation process of the Western Balkans through the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) will be explored and the Union‟s European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) will also be brought into focus regarding the policy‟s means of evasion in creating a secure European neighbourhood. In order to understand the breadth of transitional justice measures taken by the Union within the Western Balkans, the case of Croatia will be taken into account, as the first country from the area to be accessed into the Union in 2012, and to some extent compared to the process that is taking place in Serbia. This article seeks to bear out how although the ENP has to a degree succeeded in establishing constitutional peace within „Wider Europe‟, the cursoriness of its role in executing transitional justice in the Western Balkans has led to the obstruction of sustainable peace within the region.

PERANAN UNI EROPA MELALUI PROGRAM IPA (INSTRUMEN PRE-ACCESSION ASSISTANCE) DALAM MEMBANGUN PEREKONOMIAN KOSOVO

The problem of this research is how the European Union is a regional organization that is in the European region, has a policy of enlargement, which is a policy where the EU is trying to expand the area of cooperation to do so will be more extensive. Balkan region did not escape the attention of Europe. for this region, the European Union issued a Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) which merupaka a policy that contains the promise of the EU to the Western Balkan countries for the opportunity to become a member. That's why Kosovo had finally become part of the SAP. After becoming a part of SAP, Kosovo received assistance from the EU as a potential candidate candidate. Program assistance provided by the EU is the IPA program which is a program set up to create a single framework to assist candidate countries and potential countries to join the EU premises. Through this IPA, the EU provides financial assistance to Kosovo to build its economy. This type of research is qualitative. The method used is descriptive analysis techniques. Most of the data collected through literature, as well as the search website. The results of this study indicate that the funds provided by the European Union through the IPA program provided through economy of Kosovo has been quite successful with demonstrated through improvements to the economy of Kosovo, the provision of this assistance has resulted in significant improvements in economic growth and development of Kosovo.

Trade liberalisation and product structure: the case of the Western Balkans1

Abstract This paper addresses an important issue of an impact of trade liberalisation on export structure and product concentration, which, according to contemporary findings, have a strong influence on the dynamics of an economic growth. The analysis covers the region of the Western Balkans (WB) in years 1995 – 2013 with an emphasis on Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and CEFTA-2006 agreement, which formed the basis for the trade liberalisation in the region. The empirical results provide evidence that is in contrary to the evidence from other countries where trade liberalisation resulted in their deepened specialisation in production and export of raw materials and labour-intensive goods. Moreover, liberalisation processes turned out not to have had much impact on product concentration of the WB’s trade. Finally, substitutability of capital and labour factors in the production process of exported goods was confirmed. Key words: Western Balkans, international trade, trade

The Right of the Minorities to Participate in the Public Life on Local Level: The Case of Republic of Macedonia in the Framework of the EU Policy of ‘Regional Approach’

The paper aims to contribute to the clarification of several aspects of the minorities’ right to participate in public life on local level. It considers the following elements: analysis of the Macedonian legal and constitutional framework; analysis of relevant provision of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Union’s treatment of the issue in the framework of its foreign policy of ‘Regional Approach’ (1996-1999). The analysis relies on two comparisons. Firstly, it contrasts the content of the EU conditionality in the field of minority rights developed during the 1990’s in the framework of the eastern enlargement with the content of conditionality in the same field developed in the framework of the ‘Regional Approach’. Secondly, the study encompasses a brief comparison with the later development of the relevant standards within the framework of the subsequently developed EU enlargement policy of Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP). Considering that the EU relies on the standards developed in the system of Council of Europe in the field of minority rights, the analysis in particular attempts to contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of this ‘’borrowing’’, during which the Council and the Commission rely on certain aspects of the body of rules of the Council of Europe, while omitting others.

Assessing the Europeanization of Bosnia and Herzegovina: A litmus test for the European Union

Abstract The concept of Europeanization has become very popular in studies of European integration and particularly in analyses on the post-communist countries undergoing extensive transformation on the road to European Union membership. Although the Europeanization process has been quite successful in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the same scenario has not played out in the western Balkans region. With the purpose of analysing the effectiveness and impact of the Europeanization process in the western Balkans, the main subject of the paper is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU-related reform processes. Although Bosnia has been undergoing thorough Europeanizing reforms since the late 1990s, when the country entered the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), it is still an unstable and dysfunctional country. That makes it the perfect case for assessing the possible shortcomings of the Europeanization process. Thus far, most scholars have concluded that domestic political elites in Bosnia are the only party responsible for Bosnia’s political deadlock. However, this paper analyses the continued Bosnian deadlock from a different perspective, trying to figure out the degree of responsibility the European Union shares in the country’s Europeanization process. Although uncooperative Bosnian political elites are to a great extent responsible for the continued political and social status quo, EU leaders are not faultless either. In fact, so far European leaders have often appeared to be deeply divided, incoherent, and short-sighted in terms of Europeanization policies in Bosnia, thus further deepening the political deadlock in the country. Therefore, we can ask whether Bosnia represents a litmus test which the EU has failed.

Serbia and European integration: Long process of stabilization and adaptation

The article describes and analyzes the European integration of Serbia in the last ten years. The author first presents the very framework and phase of the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), which is precondition for all the other candidates for EU accession. Then, the author analyze the achievements of the Serbian SAP through its most important instruments, such as the Stabilization and Association Agreement, preaccession financial funds (like Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance), the European partnership and regional cooperation. Particular emphasis is placed on analysis of specific obstacles to Serbia towards European integration. These three problems are: the Serbian-Montenegrin relations within the joint federal / state union, (non)cooperation with the Hague tribunal and the problems of Serbia with the Kosovo status issue.

Trade liberalization in the south east Europe: Effects and controversial issues

Included in the regional cooperation of SEE countries, trade liberalization is considered the most important factor of a sustainable economic growth which should contribute to the mutual trade among SEE countries, growth of the foreign direct investments, further production specialization and export structure change. Countries of the region have accepted liberalization as one of the conditions of the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), hoping, each of them individually, that in that way they would improve proper position. Creating a free trade area will contribute to a further increase of intra-regional trade flows, but it shouldn't be expected that the relative importance of mutual exchange will prevail the importance which EU has for the SEE countries, except Moldova. Paper is divided into five sections. After the introduction, the trade liberalization process in the SEE region is explained in the second part (section 2). The third section analyses actual intra-regional trade flows and SEE countries trade relations with the EU (section 3). Some controversial issues raised in recent debates on trade liberalization in SEE are also discussed (section 4). The main conclusions are given at the end (section 5). .

Europeanizing the Balkans: Rethinking the Post-communist and Post-conflict Transition

This paper argues that the post-communist and post-conflict transition of the Balkans requires a methodological shift in line with globalization, which shapes political and economic transformation from within through transnational networks. As a specially tailored mechanism leading to the accession of the Balkans into the European Union, the Stabilization and Association Process (SAp) sets the framework for political and economic transformation of the region. The paper posits that the weakness of the EU's approach derives from the fact that it is informed by the dominant transition paradigm, which marginalizes the impact of globalization, and specifically the role of transnational actors. The paper provides a critique of the transition literature and its explanatory potential to account for the post-conflict and post-communist transition in the Balkans. It goes on to examine the Balkan transnational space and the role of transnational actors in the process of transition as an important additional explanation, while taking into account a double legacy: the domestic legacy, inherited from communism, and the transnational and post-communist legacy acquired during the conflict. It advances an argument that a weak state offers us a conceptual nexus for the study of democratic transition in the Balkans in the global age. We demonstrate that transnational networks benefit from a weak state and perpetuate the very weakness that sustains them. At the same time, these networks exploit multi-ethnicity and stir ethnic tensions, lest stabilization should limit their scope for action. As a result, state- and nation building appear as mutually enfeebling rather than reinforcing, thus subverting the existing EU mechanisms.

Regional Cooperation in the Western Balkans: Stabilisation Device or Integration Policy?

Abstract This article analyses regional cooperation between the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) states with particular emphasis on the interplay with EU integration. It argues that regional cooperation is not solely a means of stabilising the SAP ‘five’ (SAP5) in advance of policies to integrate them with the EU but that regional cooperation is itself a vital part of the EU integration process. This applies to both the regional integration/trade liberalisation component, which is a clear functional EU pre‐accession activity and also to the more diverse set of activities which are targeting the regional hard and soft security problems. The latter addresses the more baseline, region‐wide aspects of Europeanisation, and is therefore more of a foundation course for EU accession than integration ‘proper’, but is nevertheless a necessary step in the SAP countries own ‘return to Europe’. With Croatia on the verge of EU candidate status the political conditions for SAP zone regional cooperation should...

Regional cooperation in the Western Balkans: Stabilisation device or integration policy?

This article analyses regional cooperation between the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) states with particular emphasis on the interplay with EU integration. It argues that regional cooperation is not solely a means of stabilising the SAP ‘five’ (SAP5) in advance of policies to integrate them with the EU but that regional cooperation is itself a vital part of the EU integration process. This applies to both the regional integration/trade liberalisation component, which is a clear functional EU pre‐accession activity and also to the more diverse set of activities which are targeting the regional hard and soft security problems. The latter addresses the more baseline, region‐wide aspects of Europeanisation, and is therefore more of a foundation course for EU accession than integration ‘proper’, but is nevertheless a necessary step in the SAP countries own ‘return to Europe’. With Croatia on the verge of EU candidate status the political conditions for SAP zone regional cooperation should become increasingly favourable and it is important that the practical as well as political contributions of the regional cooperation commitment to the EU integration endeavour of the SAP5 are clearly understood. It is also vital that the actual regional cooperation programme avoids over‐ambitious agendas and is properly adjusted to real needs and evolving circumstances of the SAP region.