Europäische Politik für den Balkan und Kosovo neu gedacht – Überlegungen zum Report der Internationalen Balkankommission
Rethinking the European Politics for the Balkans and Kosovo – Considerations to the Report of the International Balkan Commission

Summary/Abstract: In April 2005, the International Commission on the Balkans (ICB) presented its long-awaited findings for a rethinking of European policies for the future of the Balkans and most prominently for the deadlocked question of Kosovo’s future status. Albeit not an official institution, the political and academic standing of the ICB members guarantees the Report a substantial strategic impact. Essentially, the authors argue that the EU should start to think of the enlargement process as a strategic instrument rather than a reward for reforms accomplished. According to the Report, only opening a track towards EU integration for the Balkans has the potential to unravel Kosovo’s Gordian knot by providing the Kosovars with a framework for conditional statehood and Serbia with an appealing compensation for the loss of Kosovo without destabilising the region as a whole. In 2005, as a decisive year for the Balkans, the Report with its creative and bold recommendations could not have come timelier.

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