Garčević Discusses Future of EU-Western Balkan Relations
On November 6, 2021, Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was a panelist at a conference hosted by the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies at the University of Alberta, during which he discussed the Western Balkan states’ future with the European Union (EU).
The event marked three decades since the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Scholars and practitioners who participated examined three decades of scholarship on the Yugoslav conflict and the impact it has on the construction of historical narratives; the role of the international community and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in addressing the Yugoslav breakup and its aftermath; as well as the EU perspectives of the Western Balkans and the rise of political radicalism and atavistic passions of nationalism in this region plagued by war and deep division.
During his presentation, titled “The EU’s enlargement dilemma: Do the EU and the Western Balkans Share the Same Future?,” Garčević talked about how both the EU and the Western Balkan states have failed to deliver on what they agreed on at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Thessaloniki in June 2003: the Western Balkan has failed to deliver comprehensive democratic reforms, while the EU failed to remain politically committed to enlargement. He noted that there is a correlation between reform fatigue and enlargement fatigue. The two ends of this equation are closely connected – when the EU was involved, the reforms were gaining ground. However, Garčević pointed out that since 2013 Brussels’ appetite for enlargement has gradually waned as it is the countries appetite for the continuation of reforms.
A recording of the event can be viewed below.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about Ambassador Garčević on his faculty profile.