NATO Peace Support Operations in the Balkans

Abstract

Since the change of regime, the Balkans has been important in the Hungarian foreign, security and defense policy. In the first decade, Hungary participated in all land-based NATO peacekeeping in the region. Although since then, with more than 900 people, Hungary has involved in peacekeeping in 15 countries and three continents, this region still has an important priority for our country. The importance of NATO operations in the Western Balkans presents the entire peace operational spectrum of the Alliance from 1992 to the present. The intermittent nature of NATO peacekeeping (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia) is characterized by the current KFOR operation. Although the analysis focuses on transatlantic crisis management, it evaluates the outcome of the region's EuroAtlantic development. The development of the Western Balkans depends on both international alliances: while NATO is responsible for providing military security, the EU provides the developing Balkan countries with long term vision. The study ends with the presentation of the Hungarian results of Balkan peacekeeping.