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Event

Negotiating Peace: Lessons from the Western Balkans

Date & Time

Wednesday
Oct. 28, 2020
11:30am聽鈥撀12:30pm ET

Overview

25 years ago, the Dayton Peace Accords ended conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, violence continued in the Western Balkans, which lead聽to the Kosovo War and the international mediation needed to end it. Even after the conflict stopped, Serbia and Kosovo struggle with their relations. Today, the Western Balkans remains turbulent. Join us as two experienced European negotiators discuss what lessons can be drawn from efforts to negotiate peace in the Balkans, both for the region and elsewhere.

Selected Quotes

The Right Honourable Catherine Ashton, Baroness of Upholland

鈥淲e can鈥檛 do anything now unless we a) collaborate with each other, and b) end up trying to find solutions [...]. Let鈥檚 not do any of the bad stuff, let鈥檚 keep going with the sitting around the table, it鈥檚 what the European Union Project was all about: solving the problems by leaders coming together. It鈥檚 not easy, it's never going to be easy, but doing it through dialogue and discussion and diplomacy - not doing it through means that Europe has too often seen, which can be destructive and terrible and horrific. There is no other solution, all of these conflicts end up one day having to be resolved through diplomatic means.鈥

鈥淚 do think that if you project foreign affairs forward, then it is obvious that the countries of the region should be very firmly attached to the European Union and be part of that. But they also need to do better within themselves as well, the kind of cooperation, economic roles and so on. It鈥檚 not only about traffic towards the E.U. but it's also about how they relate to each other. And that affects how people feel about the place they live, the country they live, the region they live in, how proud they can be of their heritage by how much they feel part of a set of communities.鈥

Carl Bildt

鈥淥ne of the lessons that was very clear to me [in 1995] is that you can鈥檛 heal a country if the international community is divided. It simply doesn鈥檛 work. Then, the situation became desperate from a number of points of view, primarily in the summer of 1995. That made it possible to heal the divisions across the Atlantic; there was a sense of desperation both in European capitals and in Washington that made it possible to come together, to merge a couple of different peace plans that had been on the table, and to watch for peace using the instruments available.鈥

鈥淭he Balkans is not as high up on the agenda of Washington as China is [...] and that has meant our leverage has decreased. I鈥檝e always argued with the politicians of the region that they should be happy for the 鈥淏alkan Fatigue鈥 because that means that they are no longer in an acute crisis, that they are becoming normal, and normal nations are not subject to high levels of attention by Washington or Brussels but it has been difficult for them to adjust [...]. It鈥檚 also difficult for Washington and Brussels to calibrate this, not to forget them completely but to continue a level of engagement that is necessary because they do have their challenges, they do need our attention. There are significant issues to be sorted out, and if they鈥檙e not sorted out, things could start to go wrong.鈥

鈥淸Diplomacy] is absolutely imperative, be that in Brussels, be that in London, be that in Paris, or be that in Washington, diplomacy is absolutely essential. You can鈥檛 sort out the issues of the world with war, you have to try to sort it out with diplomacy [...]. There is a time for deterrence, there is a time for defense, but diplomacy has to be at the forefront of the effort.鈥

鈥淚 become pessimistic when I see how [the Balkans] have not been doing what I think they should be doing during these years. At the same time, it is a region of talent, no doubt. It is a region of assets, it is a region that is profoundly European. There is no real way why this should not be possible to sort out over time. But it requires some deeper European commitment by all of the political leaders of the region, and then we could be there and we should be there in order to be very strong in the support that we can give them. But, we can鈥檛 do it, they have to do it.鈥


Hosted By

Global Europe Program

The Global Europe Program is focused on Europe鈥檚 capabilities, and how it engages on critical global issues.聽 We investigate European approaches to critical global issues. We examine Europe鈥檚 relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our initiatives include 鈥淯kraine in Europe鈥 鈥 an examination of what it will take to make Ukraine鈥檚 European future a reality.聽 But we also examine the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE, Europe鈥檚 energy security, transatlantic trade disputes, and challenges to democracy. The Global Europe Program鈥檚 staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media.  Read more

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