Security Challenges of Western Balkans Countries, a Necessity for a Regional Cooperation

Abstract

After the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, the Western Balkan was one of the regions that experienced the most difficult transition because this process was accompanied by bilateral and multilateral conflicts, with local and regional wars, as well as with political and ethnic clashes. As a consequence, it was also politically fragmented on its map. The international community intervened in the Balkans with various civilian and military missions, respectively during the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia. These international interventions have yielded concrete results in the process of overall democratic reforms of the region countries, with particular emphasis on the security field, as well as the aspect of integration reforms in both NATO and the EU. The fragmentation of Western Balkans came as a result of many historical, political, economic, military, geopolitical and strategic reasons. This process has also had consequences in the integration process of this region. But it is currently fully oriented towards European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Most Balkan countries are now members of NATO, while Kosovo has the primary and long-term strategic objective of its policy of integration into EuroAtlantic Security structures. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the Euro-Atlantic integration process and could be a turning point in relations between the EU and the enlargement countries in the Western Balkans. Keywords: Western Balkans, Covid-19, Regional security, North Macedonia, NATO, Kosovo