CONFLICTS IN THE POST-SOVIET AREA AND IMPLICATIONS ON THE SECURITY OF EUROPE AND THE WESTERN BALKANS
CONFLICTS IN THE POST-SOVIET AREA AND IMPLICATIONS ON THE SECURITY OF EUROPE AND THE WESTERN BALKANS

Author(s): Mehmedin Tahirović
Subject(s): Security and defense, Military policy, Geopolitics, Russian Aggression against Ukraine, Russian war against Ukraine
Published by: Institut za strategijska istraživanja
Keywords: USSR; Russia; Ukraine; security of Europe; Western Balkans; Montenegro
Summary/Abstract: By undertaking large-scale military actions against neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, Russia clearly shows that it does not want NATO in its immediate neighborhood and that it intends to regain its role in international relations from the time of the functioning of the USSR in the international community, clearly showing that it does not accept the dominant position of the US in the international community. Considering that before the aggression Ukraine expressed clear ambitions to become a member of NATO and the EU, as well as the fact that Russia is a territorial part of the European state and that its economy was significantly related to the EU states, then it is crystal clear that this aggression is directly related to the EU security. In addition to the former USSR countries in the Baltics: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which became NATO members in 2004, Finland, which was a neutral country for a long time, also became a NATO member on the anniversary of the founding of this organization on April 4, 2023 and formal membership of Sweden is expected soon, which greatly changes the security architecture of Europe. The countries of the Western Balkans, which are historically and culturally linked to Russia and at the same time have opted for the Western European integration, have been brought into a security gap. The future course of events will undoubtedly have consequences on their safety. Montenegro, as the smallest country in the Western Balkans and a member of NATO, with already achieved results in the process of the European integration after 2020, is a politically and ethnically divided country and, with a high rate of organized crime and corruption, has been put in a situation where its state survival is also threatened.

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