Security Dilemmas and Defense Challenges in Kosovo and Western Balkans

10 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2018

See all articles by Venelin Terziev

Venelin Terziev

Georgi Rakovski Military Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria

Koleci Redom

National Military University

Baki Koleci

University Haxhi Zeka

Date Written: October 31, 2018

Abstract

Western Balkan countries have made great progress in reforming their security and defense policies in accordance with NATO membership requirements and the Partnership for Peace Program. However, based on the security and national security documents of these countries, there are some key risks that could destabilize the region and cause re-emergence of armed conflicts, including conventional reactions. Among them most important are the threats of political - nationalistic/ethnic and religious nature, those of statehood, as well as of the controversial/indefinite borders. In essence, in spite of the formal commitment of all Western Balkan countries to good neighborly relations and to make a contribution to regional stability and security, within them still predominates a certain visible level of anxiety due to a lack of clarity of confidence in the future behavior of some of the other states in the region. Also, the creation of the Kosovo Army will have a significant impact on changing the regional balance of power. NATO's involvement in the Balkans has had four main results. First, its military involvement as a repressive and stabilizing force has discouraged armed conflicts and has transformed the Western Balkans from a region of war-torn societies and hostile neighborly relations to a relatively stable one. Second, NATO exerted a decisive influence on changing solid balance structures and doctrines of mass armies based on territorial defense and rejection; this the national armed forces became a professional army, and their offensive capabilities against their neighbors diminished in a meaningful way. Third, NATO's enlargement to the Western Balkans played an essential role in the final conclusion of the country's individual borders in the region. Fourthly, the Partnership for Peace put all hope for any bilateral or regional countervailing cooperation in the field of defense, transforming cooperation exclusively through Brussels at a price to be paid for membership.

Keywords: Security, Defense, the Western Balkans, NATO, Security Policies, and Military Capabilities

JEL Classification: H55, H56

Suggested Citation

Terziev, Venelin and Koleci, Redom and Koleci, Baki, Security Dilemmas and Defense Challenges in Kosovo and Western Balkans (October 31, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3276599 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3276599

Venelin Terziev (Contact Author)

Georgi Rakovski Military Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria ( email )

Sofia, 1000
Bulgaria

Redom Koleci

National Military University ( email )

Bulgaria

Baki Koleci

University Haxhi Zeka

Peya
Kosovo

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