Geopolitical review of the Balkan Peninsula and its impact on the security of the European Union

Dissertation for Master Degree (M.A)

Tension: Political Geography

The Balkan Peninsula has always been one of the most important regions in world history. It owes its importance to its geographical location, the existence of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, being the gateway to Europe, its proximity to the Near East and the Middle East, its surrounding seas, its proximity to the Suez Canal, and the presence of Muslim countries in this region. The Balkans are of special importance due to the connection between East and West in the world. Because with the occupation of this land by the Ottomans, the Europeans faced problems in terms of communication with the East. The rise of Russia, which sought to gain access to open waters. With the support of the Orthodox and Slavs of the Balkans, this empire tried to reach the straits and seas of the Balkans. This expansionism became a factor in the expansion of European powers to the Balkans and Ottoman lands. For Ottomans, the people of the Balkans and the Balkan region had a special role and importance; Because losing them, just as gaining them turned the Ottoman government into an empire, would cause the fall of the empire.

The European Union is one of the most important regional organizations in the world today. This organization with an age of more than 50 years is the result of the continuous efforts of its leaders to achieve a single Europe. The European Union in its current form was formed with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty among 12 countries (currently it has 27 members), and with the conclusion of this treaty, a new process in creating a close union between the people of Europe began. . The European Union has several elements, among which 5 institutions are introduced as the main ones and in fact the decision-making elements of the Union, which include the Council of the Union, the Parliament, the Commission, the Court of Justice and the Council of Ministers of the Union

Result and proposal of the research:

Proposals and solutions to resolve the conflicts and conflicts of the Balkan Peninsula:

Reform the legal structure of power in the region:

Membership of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula in the European Union :

Culturization of pluralism and democratic behavior in the region:

Revision of borders between local states based in the Balkans:

Development of a religious and ethnic charter in the region by politicians in power and ethnic and religious leaders approved by the people

Introduction:

The Balkan Peninsula includes the countries of Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Albania, the Federation of Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro) is geopolitically one of the most sensitive geographical areas in the world, whose history for the past five centuries has always been affected by military conflicts between the countries of the region.

The Balkans have long been influenced by the actions of those who never raised the question of what to think of so that the painful and disastrous history of the region is repeated.

Due to its internal disputes and geopolitical position, the Balkan Peninsula has been one of the crisis-prone regions of the world and has always been the focus of great world powers, because in addition to the Black Sea and the Sea of ??Marmara, it provides access to the Mediterranean, Aegean and Adriatic seas, and provides influence or control over the most important communication network between the East and West of the world. In the same way, throughout history, crises have been caused by the intervention of foreign forces, of course, by resorting to internal and ethnic differences in this peninsula and have even led the world to a world war.

War and crisis in the Balkans have their roots in the ancient history of this region, and the Balkans have always been a critical link in the European continent. This crisis has intensified especially in World War II and with the actions of Italian fascism and Hitler's German Nazism. The collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe was the main cause of divergence in the Balkans, especially in Yugoslavia, because the movement towards multi-party democracy in this country had started in the mid-eighties, and in parallel, democratic movements had begun in Poland, and these events accelerated it. The Republic of Yugoslavia opposed and confronted the plan of Greater Serbia under the cover of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav crisis began. Serbia's invasion of Slovenia and then Croatia led to the war in the Republic of Croatia.

The outbreak of war in Croatia, which led to the recognition of Croatia in international forums, the request of Bosnia and Herzegovina for international recognition by the European and American community, subject to a referendum.

The outbreak of war in Croatia, which led to the recognition of Croatia in international forums, Bosnia and Herzegovina's request for international recognition by the European and American community was subject to a referendum, in which a total of 64% of the citizens voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One day after Bosnia was recognized by international forums and the United Nations, Serbia's war against Bosnia and Herzegovina began.

Chapter 1

"Generalities"

1-1 - Statement of the problem:

One of the most important discussions in the European Union is the discussion about the development of the European security and defense policy [1]. The European Union needs security in its region and periphery in order to advance its economic, commercial, political and military goals in line with greater integration. On the other hand, one of the important and controversial issues that the European Union is facing is the expansion of the European Union. The issue of whether any country located in the European continent should be a member of the European Union or not is another important issue that has always been raised. The Balkans is a peninsula in the southeast of Europe where the countries of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and the European part of Turkey are located. In this research, the researcher aims to describe the geopolitical situation of the Balkan Peninsula (with a brief overview of the history of this region) and examine the impact of its crises and unrest on the security of the neighbors of this region and more precisely on the security of the European Union.

The phenomenon of security or political conflict in a geographical, ideological and intellectual field does not arise in a vacuum. "Definitely" behind it, the background of history and the path of geographical, political, economic and cultural developments and events have formed the basis for the formation of such a round, and as a result, we will witness different effects depending on the smallness and size of its operational area. Ethnic challenges are one of the political phenomena with an undeniable background that cannot be limited in a specific period of time. shows that it shows itself in the form of a national, regional and international crisis. Ethnic challenges in the Balkans are no exception to this general rule. The course of events and developments in the Balkan region in the last decade (2000-1990) showed the depth of conflicts and disagreements that can be considered the legacy of the Prussian, Hungarian and Ottoman empires in the past centuries. The sensitive and geostrategic region of the Balkans as a bridge connects three continents and is the intersection of two great human religions, Christianity and Islam, which itself has emerged as a factor and accelerator of regional challenges. Ethnic differences and conflicts that remained closed after the First and Second World War in terms of the dominance of the communist system with pressure and police control, followed regional and international changes and developments and the collapse of the system. Bipolarity and the formation of the new world system took on a new trend.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the division of the Yugoslav Federation into smaller countries such as Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Montenegro itself created a situation where each of them put forward their own historical claim - ethnic and racial identity and was entitled to the oppression that had been inflicted on them for years. Let them know that as a result, it caused two bloody wars with ugly and unfortunate regional and international consequences, each of which created unique conditions in front of its neighboring wars. The increasing genocides based on the scorched earth policy or the widespread displacement of several thousand people, forced migrations, violation of basic human rights, destruction and destruction of the human environment and many other issues were notable examples of the consequences of these wars. In the meantime, the mental and psychological effects on the oppressed people cannot be mentioned with statistics and figures.

Another consequence of the wars in the Balkans in the 90s was challenging human rights and international laws, and none of the organizations of global order and security and international law could meet the expectations and resolve the issues and problems. took