THE IMPACT OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE ON THE WESTERN BALKANS

The war in Ukraine represents a turning point in international relations that significantly affects the common foreign and security policy of the European Union. By taking place on European soil and mainly between Russia and Ukraine, it really indirectly affects several countries united in two important entities, the European Union and NATO. In this paper, we will deal with the analysis of the impact of the war in Ukraine on the countries of the Western Balkans, which are in a significant geopolitical position and have developed relations with Russia in the fields of foreign policy, security, and energy. The work aims to contribute to the understanding of the implications that are happening and that may arise in the domain of internal and foreign policy of the Western Balkan countries, and especially regional relations, as a consequence of the war in Ukraine. In the first part of the paper, attention is paid to a theoretical explanation of war and realism in international relations which could be implied to this war. Furthermore, a brief overview of the political events that led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be presented in order to understand the next chapter, which is dedicated to considering the response of each Western Balkan state to the beginning of the war and the events that came as a result of it.