The Integration of the Eastern and Western Balkans into the EU and NATO: A Longitudinal and Integrated Analysis

Introduction

The Balkans are a special object of study in political science and international relations, particularly in the field of European integration. This is due to several historical, geopolitical and economic explanations. First, they are a point of refraction and even collision of different civilizations. Second, historically, the region has been under the multidirectional influence of several international interests. Third, from a geopolitical point of view, they are the closing link of the European security system, one of the most important areas of systematic confrontation between the Western and the Eastern world. Fourth, in geoeconomics, the region is an intersection of the main trade routes to and from Europe. Therefore, after the collapse of the state unification of Serbia and Montenegro – the final step of Yugoslavia’s dissolution –, each of its former republics pursued a single common goal: the integration into regional and global political, economic, military and strategic organizations, mainly the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Generally, International Organizations (IO) are crucial for the promotion of democracy and transparency (Costa & Ferrinho Lopes, forthcoming). In particular, these two IOs play a key role in the Balkans – more than any other international entity or agent (Gjana, 2013: 51-52).

European and Euro-Atlantic integration brings political, economic and social stability, as well as financial and even military support. In order to achieve this major goal of foreign policy, the internal political, economic and social reforms are largely subordinated to the conditions for the incorporation into these IOs. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the dynamics of Russian influence in the peninsula began to change due to the Balkans’ alignment with the West (Samokhvalov, 2019: 197-198).

Extant literature lacks an integrated approach. There are some studies on the EU enlargement theories (Schimmelfennig & Sedelemeier, 2002; Saurugger, 2013), on the alliance theories of expansion (Rauchhaus, 2000) and on the integration of a small set of countries into the EU or NATO (Alujević, 2012; Rękawek, 2013; Nikolova & Nikolaev, 2016). However, they do not entail a comparative approach between countries and IOs, leading scholars to fail in operationalizing a comprehensive analysis of the factors behind the fragmentation of the Balkans into Western and Eastern sub-regions, or even the relationship between the integration process and the reaction of their counterparts. The integration of these states is not only different both in time or length, but also in its correlates and consequences. Integration is thus asymmetrical, and only an integrated approach including all the pertinent cases can shed light on its differences. Furthermore, as far as this study acknowledges, political science has not described Russia’s reaction to this alignment in a global perspective that covers the entire picture. Therefore, the relevance and peculiarity of our chapter stem from an integrated overview and interpretation of the development and implementation of Western IOs’ integration strategies concerning all Balkan states. Seeking to fill this gap, this chapter brings a comprehensive analysis of the asymmetric integration of the Balkans into the EU and NATO. This comparative approach allows correlating integration and disintegration processes in the region, as well as an analysis of Russian-Balkan relations, not only with a focus on Serbia, but also Montenegro in the context of the ongoing integration processes in the region.