Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan Initiative

The Open Balkan initiative has been partially supported by the leadership of the Western Balkans. If years ago it seemed a political whim, currently it constitutes a highly conditional factor from a two-level perspective: firstly, in the bilateral relations between the Balkan countries and, secondly...

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Main Author: Gelanda Shkurtaj
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Institute of Romania 2023-06-01
Series:Romanian Journal of European Affairs
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RJEA-vol.-23-no.-1-Jun-2023-art.-7.pdf
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author Gelanda Shkurtaj
author_facet Gelanda Shkurtaj
author_sort Gelanda Shkurtaj
collection DOAJ
description The Open Balkan initiative has been partially supported by the leadership of the Western Balkans. If years ago it seemed a political whim, currently it constitutes a highly conditional factor from a two-level perspective: firstly, in the bilateral relations between the Balkan countries and, secondly, in relation to the Euro-Atlantic orientation of these countries for which the EU foreign policy had implemented the Berlin Process since 2014. In fact, the two processes have key differences, since for the Open Balkan initiative the priority interest resides in economic cooperation, while the Berlin process seeks to resolve, before their accession to the EU, many divergences of the Western Balkan countries, issues of a more complex nature than that of economic and cross-border cooperation. The Balkans are a region of turmoil where two world wars started, which left us with indelible memories of human suffering. The initiative has remained a Balkans’ troika due to its lack of support at the national level and beyond. The analysis based on a mixed-methods’ approach, seeks to highlight which of these two processes, that of the Balkans leadership or that of the European politics, is the most suitable for a comprehensive integration, without inter-ethnic conflicts and the mutual influence of the economic expansion.
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spelling doaj.art-779a0d4f1a6f498c8ad2836bd4d61aec2023-07-04T14:13:53ZengEuropean Institute of RomaniaRomanian Journal of European Affairs1582-82711841-42732023-06-01231113130Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan InitiativeGelanda Shkurtaj0Academic lawyer and a full-time professor of Roman and Civil Law at “Epoka University” in Tirana, Department of LawThe Open Balkan initiative has been partially supported by the leadership of the Western Balkans. If years ago it seemed a political whim, currently it constitutes a highly conditional factor from a two-level perspective: firstly, in the bilateral relations between the Balkan countries and, secondly, in relation to the Euro-Atlantic orientation of these countries for which the EU foreign policy had implemented the Berlin Process since 2014. In fact, the two processes have key differences, since for the Open Balkan initiative the priority interest resides in economic cooperation, while the Berlin process seeks to resolve, before their accession to the EU, many divergences of the Western Balkan countries, issues of a more complex nature than that of economic and cross-border cooperation. The Balkans are a region of turmoil where two world wars started, which left us with indelible memories of human suffering. The initiative has remained a Balkans’ troika due to its lack of support at the national level and beyond. The analysis based on a mixed-methods’ approach, seeks to highlight which of these two processes, that of the Balkans leadership or that of the European politics, is the most suitable for a comprehensive integration, without inter-ethnic conflicts and the mutual influence of the economic expansion. http://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RJEA-vol.-23-no.-1-Jun-2023-art.-7.pdfeu integration policyethnic conflictsopen balkan initiativeberlin processeconomic development
spellingShingle Gelanda Shkurtaj
Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan Initiative
Romanian Journal of European Affairs
eu integration policy
ethnic conflicts
open balkan initiative
berlin process
economic development
title Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan Initiative
title_full Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan Initiative
title_fullStr Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan Initiative
title_full_unstemmed Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan Initiative
title_short Road to Europe: Between the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan Initiative
title_sort road to europe between the berlin process and the open balkan initiative
topic eu integration policy
ethnic conflicts
open balkan initiative
berlin process
economic development
url http://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RJEA-vol.-23-no.-1-Jun-2023-art.-7.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT gelandashkurtaj roadtoeuropebetweentheberlinprocessandtheopenbalkaninitiative