Balkans Legal, Economic and Social Studies (BLESS)

Germany’s Security Role in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo

Soós Edit — 2025-12-22

The Western Balkans remain a region of strategic importance for both the European Union and NATO, characterized by ethnic diversity, post-conflict challenges and aspirations for Euro-Atlantic integration. This research examines Germany’s evolving role within the security and defence architecture of the Western Balkans, highlighting its dual identity as a „civilian power” and a pragmatic security actor. Through a comparative analysis of Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Kosovo, the study investigates how Germany’s engagement – within EU and NATO frameworks – has influenced regional stabilization, and democratization. Employing a mixed qualitative methodology, incorporating document analysis and case studies, the study assesses Germany’s contributions to key missions, including EUFOR Althea, EULEX Kosovo and Operation Concordia. The findings indicate that Germany has played a pivotal role in reinforcing the security commitments of the EU and NATO, advancing institutional reforms, and supporting the European integration of the Western Balkans. The findings reveal that Germany has played a crucial role in reinforcing the security commitments of the EU and NATO, promoting institutional reforms, and supporting the European integration of the Western Balkans. However, persistent challenges, such as enlargement fatigue, institutional fragmentation, and external geopolitical pressures, continue to constrain sustainable progress. The research concludes that Germany’s foreign policy has evolved toward a hybrid model of strategic responsibility, reflecting the EU’s own transformation into a global actor that combines normative influence with credible security capabilities. Therefore, the Western Balkans serve as a testing ground for both Germany’s and the EU’s capacity to act coherently and effectively in promoting peace, democracy, and stability within the region.

Border Incidents and Border Crossings in the Baja Triangle Border Area (1948–1953)

Péter Vukman — 2025-12-22

The study examines border incidents, border violations, and illegal border crossings that occurred during the Soviet–Yugoslav conflict (1948–1953) on the Hungarian–Yugoslav border adjacent to the Baja Triangle, based on documents from the National Command of the Hungarian Border Guard. The border incidents took various forms. Most of them can be considered minor provocations, but there were more serious cases, too. After they were detected, illegal border violations were always followed by extensive raids lasting up to several days. Initially, the local population did not assist the border guards, but a change can be observed from 1951 onwards.

Who Speaks for the Western Balkans? Cultural Representation and the Idea of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sarina Bakić — 2025-12-22

Beginning with the genealogy of the Idea of Europe, understood as both a philosophical concept and the normative standard underpinning the European Union, this paper traces its mythical roots in ancient Greece, its philosophical elaborations, and its eventual institutional embodiment in the EU, with a primary focus on its connection to the cultural representation of the Western Balkans. Special attention is devoted to the question of center and periphery, situating the Balkans as a historically marginalized region within the European cultural imaginary. Through a case study centered on Bosnia and Herzegovina, while also incorporating examples from the wider Western Balkans, the paper analyzes cultural production as a site where European identity and associated ideological frameworks are negotiated, contested, and reimagined. The aim is not to reproduce formal discussions of EU conditionality, but to engage with the deeper layers of cultural practices and symbolic representations. By highlighting both dominant and alternative cultural trends, the paper assesses the attitude and relationship of the Balkans towards the EU and the Idea of Europe, while noting the selective and sometimes contradictory ways the EU invokes the Idea of Europe. The analysis seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of how Balkan cultural representation reflects, challenges, and potentially enriches the European project. Finally, the study emphasizes the political significance of cultural representation, offering insights and recommendations for cultural policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region, demonstrating how cultural identity can inform both domestic and regional strategies for engagement with European norms.

Hidden Potential

Marija Andonova — 2025-12-22

Labor force participation in the Western Balkans remains uneven, with persistent gender gaps and significant variation across countries. This study investigates the determinants of labor market activity among men and women in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo, highlighting structural, demographic, and cultural factors that shape engagement. Using data from the European Values Survey (EVS) and applying binary logistic regression models, both pooled and country-specific, the analysis examines the effects of gender, age, education, marital status, household composition, parental background, economic conditions, and gender role attitudes on the likelihood of being active in the labor market. Results show that men are consistently more likely to participate than women, with female inactivity strongly associated with unpaid care giving responsibilities and traditional gender norms. Labor market participation generally follows an inverted-U trajectory, peaking in mid-adulthood (ages 36–43) and declining thereafter. Education increases the probability of activity, though more strongly for men, while household factors such as the presence of children and spouse activity exert heterogeneous effects across countries. Parental employment at age of 14 of the respondents also influences adult activity, highlighting intergenerational effects. Country-specific analysis reveals that cultural norms, labor market structures, and social policies mediate these patterns, with Kosovo and Albania showing particularly low female engagement and Hungary exhibiting a narrower gender gap. The findings underscore the need for policies that expand access to childcare, promote flexible work arrangements, and address normative constraints to enhance labor force participation and reduce gender disparities. Overall, labor market outcomes in the region reflect the interplay of demographic, structural, and cultural factors, emphasizing the importance of tailored, context-sensitive interventions

Resilience, Language, and Democracy

Dušan Krcunović — 2025-12-22

This article showcases the heuristic utility of the concepts of resilience and constitutional identity in explaining democratic endurance during societal crises. Societal resilience depends on sustaining constitutional identity through adaptive, inclusive narratives, with language serving as the medium of collective memory and self-reinterpretation. This study explores whether linguistic pluralism fortifies or erodes democratic endurance at critical junctures. A structured focused comparison examines Finland (post-independence) and Montenegro (post-independence), two states marked by linguistic diversity yet divergent official-language regimes, drawing on constitutional texts, historical records, and theoretical lenses from Bergson’s durée, Frankl’s logotherapy, and Rosenfeld’s constitutional identity framework. Findings show that Finland’s bilingual constitutional model—treating both national languages as co-equal within a civic “we”—preserved legitimacy and cohesion across wars and geopolitical tensions. In contrast, Montenegro’s elevation of a single, minority, and symbolically charged official language contributed to lasting identitarian dissonance and to the weakening of the civic constitutional project, even in peacetime. Inclusive linguistic policy thus sustains interpretive freedom and adaptive continuity; symbolic uniformity, however, rigidifies identity, amplifies dissonance, and undermines resilience.

Trials in Absentia for War Crimes in Kosovo: Accountability, Fair Trial Guarantees, and European Human Rights Standards

Blerta Ahmeti — 2025-12-22

The pursuit of justice for war crimes in the Western Balkans, particularly Kosovo remains riddled with complex challenges, reflective of broader tensions between peace, accountability, and the protection of fundamental rights. While political agreements can end hostilities, true reconciliation depends on the delivery of credible criminal justice—particularly in the context of post-conflict societies. One of the most contentious tools in this process is the use of trials in absentia, whereby proceedings continue despite the accused’s absence. Although such trials are a pragmatic response to the realities of non-cooperation, cross-border fugitives, and impunity, they raise significant concerns regarding the right to a fair trial, the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms, and, most critically, the compatibility of these proceedings with international human rights standards as established in instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This article focuses on the situation in Kosovo as an example within the Western Balkans, where post-conflict justice mechanisms and trials in absentia have become particularly relevant. The article examines these legal and ethical dilemmas, interrogating whether in absentia trials can deliver justice without sacrificing fundamental due process guarantees or undermining the legitimacy of the rule of law in the region.

Aspects of the Identity of Hungarians in Vojvodina

Sabina Halupka Rešetar — 2025-12-22

The Hungarian identity in Vojvodina is shaped by a complex interplay of historical, social, political, and geographical factors. Originating in the late 19th century, it was strongly connected to Hungarian nationalism and culture, supported by social organizations rooted in the Enlightenment ideals. The Treaty of Trianon disrupted this, causing loss of Hungarian citizenship and forcing a shift toward a regional identity rooted in Vojvodina while retaining Hungarian cultural elements. During Yugoslav rule, political pressures and assimilation weakened Hungarian cultural identity, although regional identity among Hungarians strengthened. Post-1990s regime changes and the breakup of Yugoslavia saw the Hungarian minority regain cultural autonomy, reinforced by religious revival, support from Hungary, and policies favoring simplified naturalization. Despite ongoing challenges such as economic difficulties, population decline, and migration, Hungarian identity in Vojvodina remains dynamic, characterized by a layered sense of belonging that balances national, regional, and transnational influences amid broader European integration processes. This evolution reflects how ethnic identity adapts to shifting political landscapes and cultural contexts over time.

International Cooperation Mechanisms in Criminal Justice

Giola Cami — 2025-12-22

As the digital component’s relativity in criminal proceedings is notable, electronic evidence is no longer confined only to cybercrimes, but as well largely involved in other type of offences. A significant margin of investigations is now bound to data located extra-territorially, whereas the volatile nature of electronic evidence requisites for more time efficient investigative powers. Traditional constraints inherited in state sovereignty and the principle of non-intervention, reflect the structural limitations in Mutual Legal Assistance framework. This paper provides a normative assessment of international cooperation mechanisms under the frameworks of the Council of Europe and European Union governing cross-border access to electronic evidence. The analysis conducts a legal assessment of the consistency of normative regulations, with a focus on the issues connected to sovereignty and human rights safeguards. The study further employs a comparative assessment of the Albania’s legal framework compliance with the standards enshrined in the Council of Europe framework, examining the regulation of electronic evidence within Albanian criminal procedure, the practical efficiency of MLA via letters rogatory, and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court. The findings address procedural bottlenecks, legal loopholes regarding electronic evidence legality and judicial reluctance toward interpretative harmonization.

The Environment as a Silent Casualty

Iliriana Islami — 2025-12-22

Armed conflicts have long generated profound and enduring environmental harm, producing pollution, ecological degradation, and public health risks that can outlast human suffering by decades. Although international law has progressively expanded its recognition of the environment as an interest deserving protection—from early limitations in the Hague Regulations to the environmental safeguards in Additional Protocol I, the ENMOD Convention, and emerging customary international law—these regimes remain constrained by high evidentiary thresholds, anthropocentric framing, and weak enforcement mechanisms. This article examines the position of the environment within international humanitarian law (IHL), international criminal law (ICL), international human rights law (IHRL), and international environmental law (IEL), using the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia (1991–1999) as a case study to illustrate persistent normative and institutional gaps. Post-conflict assessments and international jurisprudence reveal how industrial bombardments, chemical releases, landmine contamination, and urban infrastructure collapse produced extensive and enduring ecological damage across Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia/Kosovo, yet yielded no criminal accountability. The fragmentation between environmental bodies and international tribunals, coupled with political reluctance to prioritize ecological justice, further limited legal responses. The article argues that effective protection of the environment in armed conflict requires both normative development—such as the proposed recognition of ecocide—and institutional integration that embeds environmental expertise within accountability and transitional justice mechanisms. The experience of the Western Balkans demonstrates that safeguarding the natural environment is essential not only for ecological integrity but also for the long-term viability of post-conflict recovery and sustainable peace.

“Securing Political Intelligence”

Vukašin Marić — 2025-12-22

The article examines the political, intellectual, and institutional conditions that led to the establishment of the 1919 Coolidge Mission in Vienna. Situating the mission within the context of the United States peace preparations and Woodrow Wilson’s pursuit of a “scientific peace,” it argues that the late 1918 demand for “securing political intelligence” in the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire emerged as a response to the epistemic and institutional limitations of American diplomacy at the end of the First World War. Drawing on archival and published sources, memoirs, and secondary literature, and combining process tracing, contextual analysis, biographical and prosopographical elements, the article reconstructs how the pursuit for political intelligence was conceptualized, organized, and operationalized by the United States during the transition from wartime diplomacy to postwar peacemaking. Particular attention is given to the biography of Archibald Cary Coolidge, who was ultimately selected to lead the mission, as his academic expertise, institutional experience, and ties to the U.S. foreign service help explain how expert knowledge was mobilized in American diplomatic and peacemaking practices during and immediately after the First World War. The article demonstrates that the Coolidge Mission was a product of broader efforts to institutionalize knowledge production as a tool of American state power. By analyzing the making of the mission, the study contributes to the historiography of U.S. foreign relations by highlighting the interplay of Wilsonian ideals of rational, knowledge-driven policymaking and the institutional challenges the United States confronted as it sought to reshape the postwar international order.

Црногорски мит

Андрас Маtе-Тоt — 2026-01-19

И опет једна ћушка, отпозади, по потиљку. Добио их је већ много, али није могао да се навикне. Добио ју је неочекивано, као и све остале. А увек је био сасвим посвећен. Није био одушевљен, али је пратио колико год је могао. Рука је била тешка, огромна шака са дебелим прстима. Ударала је кратким замахом, из зглоба. Није много болело, више је било као упозорење, подсећање и опомена, по реду.

Тада се убрзао и почео вртети грнчарски точак. Није му ни тако било теже, али од бржих покрета се више ознојио, а то није волео. Није морао толико да пази на обликовање као на почетку, док је још био почетник. Благим, милујућим покретима радио је на влажној глини, чак није ни гледао непрестано, само би повремено бацио поглед. Само је контролисао своје руке, држање својих руку. А послушна глина се формирала, онако како је то требало.