Assessing the energy security in the Balkan region: existing challenges
Assessing the energy security in the Balkan region: existing challenges

Summary/Abstract: The bloody conflicts during the Yugoslav succession in the 1990s are responsible for the fact that the Balkan region has not been successful in its economic and political development. In the aftermath of this tragedy, six new states have been established and recognized by the international community, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia in the Balkan region. Later, in 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia, however there is still a number of problems in its recognition. The Balkan region is not only limited to these countries, but should also include Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Romania and Turkey in order to assess the geopolitical situation in a more comprehensive approach. Compared to 20th century, the Balkans has experienced peace and stability recently. Accordingly, its importance is no longer only concerned with security issues. The region has become an area of interest for economic and geopolitical reasons. Being able to influence the region is becoming essential for international actors. Given this rising importance of the Balkans, assessing the energy security is more crucial than ever. Therefore, this article aims to assess and review the energy security issue of the individual countries in the Balkans and assess the region’s level of energy security compared with the European Union indicators (EU). EU indicators are selected as a benchmark since all the countries are in Europe and directly affected by the regional geopolitics. In addition, the contemporary challenges related to the energy security to the region will be identified.

• Details
• Contents