engleski

Energy Security EU and Western Balkans

This paper deals with the external dimension of the EU energy policy in the scope of which we can also define the common perception of energy environment of the EU. The EU is particularly interested in the states of the Western Balkans which are in different phases of integration process towards the full EU membership, integral energy security of the EU and, finally, the EU's Energy Union. In the context of energy policies, these states are significant as an area of potential transport routes important for the diversification of EU energy supply, particularly gas. Simultaneously, this region is where the EU is facing conflicting interests beyond regional subjects, primarily Russia, which are to a great extent realized using the energy (gas) dependence of the states in the region. Consequently, the EU is strongly affirming the issue of energy security and helps the states - candidates for EU membership define and coordinate their energy policies as the basis for energy security. The EU puts emphasis on security and not on economic aspect of this policy. Subsequently, with security in general, energy security is a significant prerequisite to the process of joining the EU. Also, there is a strong interdependence of these two aspects of security in this region, where the general security of the Western Balkans influences the energy security of the EU. Thus, the paper will elaborate on the impact of security in the Western Balkans on energy security from the EU perspective. In particular, one part of the paper is dedicated to analyzing energy interests of the EU member states which share borders with this area and which should actively participate in stabilizing this region. This paper establishes the hypothesis that in the future, energy security of the EU will increasingly depend on the supply routes stretching across the Western Balkans and the neighbouring states, which places great importance on the active improvement of the stability of this area and its inclusion in the EU. The importance of the Western Balkans for the energy security of the EU and its efforts to stabilize the Western Balkans for energy security will be analyzed.

Energy security ; Western Balkan ; Energy policy ; Security

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