The Open Balkans Initiative: The Possibility of Economic and Political Integration without a Security Component

Arnaudov Mitko (Naučni saradnik, Institut za međunarodnu politiku i privredu, Beograd), mitko@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs
Ćurčić Milica (Istraživač saradnik, Institut za nuklearne nauke „Vinča” – Institut od nacionalnog značaja za Republiku Srbiju, Univerzitet u Beogradu), milica.curcic@vin.bg.ac.rs

The main goal of the Open Balkans Initiative is economic integration. It is not an initiative that will replace EU accession but a process that should speed up integration. The research question is whether deeper economic integration is possible without a political and security component. The complexity of this issue is indicated by the fact that the countries-participants in the initiative have different security policies. Serbia has declared military neutrality, while North Macedonia and Albania are NATO members. Inter-state economic integration is almost impossible without coordination at the political and security levels. The sanctions that Russia is facing due to the Ukrainian conflict are not correlated with the Open Balkans but represent indicators of economic trends. Through these indicators, an answer to the question of whether and to what extent the Open Balkans can reach full economic integration if the security policies of the countries that are part of the initiative are not unified, will be reached. The goal is to show how the security and political positioning of states determine inter-state economic flows and, therefore, explain that it is very difficult to achieve full capacities of economic integration without a security and political component.

Keywords: Open Balkans, economic integration, international politics, security component, international relations, open market