Europeanization of the Balkans, or Balkanization of Europe?

The European Union enlargement process has been a substantial benefit for European citizens and has proved to be the most successful transition of the post-communist countries. Nevertheless, the Balkans region remains without a clear perspective for full integration into the EU, creating potential for further uncertainty and even conflict. In attempting to contain the "Powder Keg of Europe," greater attention needs to be paid to the ending of bilateral disputes and the enabling of selfsustainability in the region.

This article analyzes the conflicting concepts of Europeanization and Balkanization, discussing the place of the Balkans in the European Union and internal challenges to the EU such as the rise of nationalism, security threats, the migrant crisis, the lack of consensus, and even fragmentation. Challenges faced by the EU today are different from those in the 1980s or 1990s, yet these past lessons should be taken into consideration while defining the future developments of the Union, including its final borders, decision-making reforms, and values shared by all of its current and potential members states.

A History of Fragmentation

The Balkans have a reputation for normalized conflict and bloodshed. History, religion, ethnicity, territory, and political ideology have served to provoke violence in what has seemed like a never-ending cycle. Overlapping foreign interests and intervention, as well as independence movements, have increased the explosive potential, earning the Balkans the nickname "Powder Keg of Europe." In the past, nearly all Balkan ethnic groups struggled to create their "great nation-states"—often at the expense of their neighbors. In the years before the First World War, ideas of "pan-Slavic" unity in the Balkans promoted by Imperial Russia, as well as attempts to expand the spheres of influence of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, created a volatile environment in which local events often led to major regional conflicts.

The 20th-century fragmentation of the Balkan Peninsula began with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Subsequent divisions of its remaining territory took place during the Balkan Wars, the First and Second World Wars, and eventually culminated in the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The decline of the Ottoman Empire¹ (mainly due to failed reform attempts, inefficient bureaucracy and repeated uprisings), the formation of national identities, and the rise of newly created nation-states significantly increased the potential for conflict in the Balkans at the end of the 19th century. The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 by Russia and its increased pressure on the region were merely additions to the powder keg. Subsequently, these tensions were heightened by the outbreak of World War I, as neither Balkan war seemed to satisfy the aspirations of the countries involved.

After World War I, the creation of a unified South Slavic state—into what ultimately became Yugoslavia—seemed to have stabilized most of the region until the second half of the 20th century. Nevertheless, the region's proximity to both the Eastern and Western military blocs during the Cold War, internal ethnic-based irredentism, a failing economy, and ideological diversity led to the most violent clashes in Europe after World War II. In particular, the breakup of Yugoslavia and its aftermath caused a number of conflicts across its territory: the 1991 conflict between the Yugoslav People's Army (YPA) and Slovenian Defense Forces; the Croatian Serbs/YPA versus Croatia in 1991–95; the Bosnian Serbs/YPA against Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Bosnian Croats in 1992–95; the Army of Yugoslavia versus the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998–99; the 1999 NATO campaign against the Army of Yugoslavia; the Army of Yugoslavia versus the Liberation Army of Preshevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac in 1992–2001; and the Army of the Republic of Macedonia against the National Liberation Army in 2001.

All of these developments gave rise to the term "Balkanization," which refers to ethnic conflict within multiethnic states, as well as, more specifically, the ethnic cleansing and civil war that often occur following the dis-integration of such states.² Similarly, it has been described as the act of breaking up regions or groups into smaller, often hostile units.³ The...