Geopolitics of Cross Border Cooperation between Kosovo and North Macedonia
Geopolitics of Cross Border Cooperation between Kosovo and North Macedonia

Summary/Abstract: Cross border cooperation as an essential mechanism of the European Union geopolitics has been widely discussed and elaborated in the last two decades. An example of cross border cooperation guided by these geopolitics is the cooperation between two Western Balkan bordering countries: Kosovo, a potential candidate country for EU accession, and North Macedonia, a candidate country for EU accession. This article aims to elaborate on three aspects of this specific cross-border cooperation programme, which have not been subject to any significant review so far. The first part elucidates the CBC programme, an EU enlargement mechanism based on its setup and final goal. Second, the article elaborates on the beneficiary countries‟ geopolitical interest in improving their neighbourly relations and economic development. Finally, the third part presents the initiatives undertaken under this programme and their expected impact on the beneficiary countries. From the methodological point of view, this article is based on deductive reasoning flowing from the review of available information and literature on cross border cooperation as a process and its practice implementation in different countries to a more focused analysis in the specific cases of Kosovo and North Macedonia.

• Details
• Contents