Geopolitics of the Prespa Agreement: Background and After-Effects

Vankovska, Biljana

doi:10.1080/19448953.2020.1739880

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…This dispute has finally been resolved with implementation of the Prespa Agreement 8 that was warmly welcomed by, among others, the EU, the UN, NATO and the USA. The official version of the Prespa process was premised on the game theory notion that it would produce a "win-win" situation (Vankovska, 2020) and a due diligence obligation that falls upon both parties to continuously request the proper employment of the name arrangement erga omnes (Pergantis, 2019). The two Prime Minister's spearheading the conclusion of the Prespa Agreement faced political and social tensions in their respective countries.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Implicit” contestations of EU foreign policy norm-domestication in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia

Hasić

Džananović

Mesihović³

2020

Global Affairs

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This article focuses on scrutinizing EU's norm-setting practices toward the Western Balkan (WB6) countries through identifying particular points of norm-acceleration and norm-resistance related to EU' foreign policy and enlargement objectives in developing "good neighborly relations" (GNR) regionally. Although the EU has repeatedly attempted to diffuse its foreign policy and enlargement-related norms to promote regional stability, development and cooperative relations across the WB6 countries, we posit that two policies are not always complimentary and that domestication of these norms in some countries still remains nationally contextualized and guided by specific dynamics. This article explores the factors that promote or mitigate the domestication of EU-induced norms in two selected countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. By examining these two cases separately, we argue the current norm domestication patterns in both countries stave off these "coded" EU-induced normative perspectives on GNR, mainly because of their strong mixture with the "non-codified" enlargement criteria.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Implicit” contestations of EU foreign policy norm-domestication in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia

Hasić

Džananović

Mesihović³

2020

Global Affairs

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“…These have been covered in several academic contributions as a case of an EU member state using its membership rights to block the accession bid of its neighbour in order to solve a dispute in its favour (Bickl 2017;Geddes and Taylor 2016;Mavromatidis 2010;Tziampiris 2012). Apart from a few rare attempts (Orlandic 2019;Vankovska 2020) the impact of several ongoing border and other bilateral disputes in the region on progress in the EU accession process of countries has yet to be critically analysed in the mainstream literature. .…”

Section: The Nature and Origins Of Bilateral Disputes In The Western ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilateral relations in the Western Balkans as a challenge for EU accession

Petrovic

Wilson

2021

Journal of Contemporary European Studies

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Although the European Union pledges to 'maintain [and reaffirm] the credible enlargement perspective for the Western Balkans,' (European Commission, 2018), some of the new requirements which it demands the Western Balkan candidate states to meet in order to gain membership seem to be very demanding for the political leaderships of these states. This is particularly the case for the requirement that candidate states solve all their 'bilateral disputes…as a matter of urgency'. While Montenegro hopes to solve its only remaining (though nearly thirty year old) dispute with Croatia over their maritime border sometime soon, the second regional frontrunner for EU membership, Serbia, and the other remaining Western Balkan states (with the partial exception of Albania) have many more (and more serious) problems to resolve with their neighbours. This article discusses the nature and origins of problems in several most complex bilateral relationships in the Western Balkans and critically assesses the difficulty these problems pose for the Western Balkan states' accession to the EU.

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“…It was an irony of fate that Macedonia (now renamed North Macedonia after a dubious geopolitical intervention to satisfy Western interests in the region) 29 became the 30th member of NATO during the pandemic. Not only were the celebrations cancelled but, under the declared state of emergency, Macedonian soldiers engaged in keeping order in front of grocery stores and banks jam-packed with elderly people, or even in unconstitutional police arrests of people who had violated the curfew.…”

Section: Covid-19 In the Western Balkans: Geopolitical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing with COVID-19 in the European periphery: between securitization and “gaslighting”

Vankovska¹

2020

Journal of Global Faultlines

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The objective of this paper is to outline and analyse the manner in which governments on the EU's south-eastern periphery (i.e. the Western Balkans) responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and its possible after-effects. The author seeks to shed light on three particular aspects of the crisis: the (de)securitization process of COVID-19, the geopolitics of the EU enlargement process in the post-corona world, and the Balkan way of dealing with the pandemic. Following a prologue that tries to decipher what is behind the façade of this dramatic episode, the article proceeds to characterize both the securitization of COVID-19 and the “gaslighting turnaround”. It then looks at the Balkan version of the so-called “COVID-1984”, i.e. the autocratic tendencies that have blossomed amid (and thanks to) strong security concerns.

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Geopolitics of the Prespa Agreement: Background and After-Effects

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

“Implicit” contestations of EU foreign policy norm-domestication in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia

“Implicit” contestations of EU foreign policy norm-domestication in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia

Bilateral relations in the Western Balkans as a challenge for EU accession

Dealing with COVID-19 in the European periphery: between securitization and “gaslighting”

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