CSDP’S LITMUS TEST

While EULEX Kosovo KOSOVO Comes to an End, a New Momentum Arises for EU Engagement in the Western Balkans

On 14th June 2018, EULEX Kosovo, the largest EU civilian mission to date, officially came to an end. With the stakes set high and the failure to protect civilian lives in Bosnia still painfully looming in the background, EULEX severely put to test the principles agreed upon in the CSDP. As Frauke Seebass argues in Polis Brief #5, the EU has used these lessons learned to reinvented its role in the region. 2018 has brought renewed momentum for EU cooperation with the Western Balkans as concrete strategies set out to pave a rocky road ahead