THE PROCESSES OF (DE) STABILISATION IN THE BALKANS THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Abstract

While commemorating 70 years since the signing of the Paris Agreement1, which established the European Coal and Steel Community, in 2021 the process of European integration is not living its best days, especially not in the Balkans. The internal functional inconsistencies in the Union, the slow pace of work (partly caused by the health and economic crisis), the strengthening of national versus supranational interests, and the clear lack of leadership have significantly changed the agenda of priorities, with the usual “victim” being the expansion. At the same time, in the broader context of relations with its neighbors, the EU is facing a security crisis on its borders, and a situation which escalation would confront the Union with perhaps the greatest security challenge since its inception.