Balkan Security and Development
The South-East of Europe: Reassessing Residual Problems, Finding Feasible Solutions
There are two important issues, dominating the agenda of the Balkans in 2007. The first one is the blockade of the Kosovo status promotion, with its local, regional and international implications. The second one is the silent postponing of EU accession process for the Western Balkans, which is widely considered as a condition sine qua non to cope with regional maladies.
The goal and objectives of the project are threefold:
- To offer a framework of monitoring the processes, surrounding the Kosovo status talks and delayed EU accession and their implications on the situation in the region, to serve as early-warning signals and basis for further policy analyses.
- To generate focused analyses and alternative recommendations on the two key issues described above in view of: a) mitigating the effects of the Kosovo status talks and b) developing an intermediate strategy to compensate for EU’s accession and involvement deficiencies. This will be done by employing IRIS analytical potential and international contact network.
- To network and advocate these positions within a larger framework of the Balkan, EU and US expert and policy community by exchange of analytical materials and coordination of research and policy actions.
This one year project is supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy of the German Marshall Fund of the