Slovenia and the Eastern Neighbourhood
Slovenia and the Eastern Neighbourhood

Summary/Abstract: Slovenian foreign policy with regard to the Eastern Neighbourhood is a research topic that would have been difficult to conceive before 2004. Due to geo-strategic and economic concerns, Slovenia’s focus before 2004 was primarily on the Western Balkans. However, the post-EU membership era shows a slight departure from the traditional focus as Slovenia became more attentive to the needs of the Eastern Neighbourhood and began to direct a part of its bilateral ODA away from the Western Balkans, e.g. by assisting in the development of perhaps the most vulnerable country in the Eastern Neighbourhood – Moldova. The findings in this chapter show that Slovenia may not be playing a big role in assisting the countries of the Eastern Neighbourhood but it does play a role in assisting them nonetheless. It has formulated its development assistance policies, and these are influenced partly by the countries' historical experience (the Western Balkans) and also partly by the European Union’s own development assistance programmes and initiatives from the time period after Slovenia had become a member.

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