UDC 347.965.42(4-672EU)
Biblid: 0543-3657, 68 (2017)
Vol. 68, No 1166-1167, pp. 22-34
DOI:

Оriginal article
Received: 03 Mar 2017
Accepted: 03 Apr 2017

THE EUROPEAN UNION AS A MEDIATOR IN THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN BELGRADE AND PRISTINA – A CRITICAL REVIEW

Perić Jovana (Autorka je student master akademskih studija, modul Međunarodna politika na Fakultetu političkih nauka, Univerziteta u Beogradu), pericjovana2@gmail.com

This paper studies the role of the European Union as a mediator in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristine, since 2011. The highlight is on the engagement of the Union as a mediator, rather than the position of the sides in the dialogue, their interests or opinions towards the dialogue and mediator. The goal is to determine the most important successes that the Union has achieved, but also the failures because often there is a one-sided picture in which positive outcomes are attributed to the mediator and the negative ones to the sides in the dialogue. The process of mediation itself is examined through the methodological frame which determines the format, key dimensions and strategies. The main conclusion is that the role of the European Union as a mediator in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristine is only partly successful – it records formal successes and informal failures. Defining the successes in the dialogue and the mediation imposes itself as the main future challenge.

Keywords: European Union, mediation, Belgrade, Pristine, dialogue