Die Rolle der EU im westlichen Balkan und im südlichen Kaukasus - Potenzielle Hindernisse bei der Unterstützung von Reformprozessen
EU’s Role in the Western Balkans and South Caucasus - Potential Obstacles Preventing the Promotion of Reform Processes

Summary/Abstract: The paper looks at the European Union’s involvement in the Western Balkans and points out some of the imminent problems when dealing with a region with disputed territorial issues and trying to support reform processes in countries with divided societies. Although the Western Balkans and the South Caucasus can hardly be compared with each other, at least when it comes to the engagement of the EU, it can be assumed that similar strategies will be pursued and policy instruments deployed. Therefore, it is useful to identify some lessons taken from the Western Balkans that are applicable for the South Caucasus. The paper deals 1) with the controversies on Kosovo’s independence and the problems of the EU to deal with its consequences, and 2) with the EU’s efforts to support the constitutional and police reform processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to illustrate the challenges the EU faces when it has to deal with a “divided” country. In the second part, the paper looks at the EU’s engagement in the South Caucasus, where the EU might play a similar role in the future as it does in the Balkans. The investigations demonstrate that European foreign policy has often lacked consistent strategies towards the Western Balkans, which prevented the EU from achieving “satisfactory” outcomes in its neighbourhood.

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