The fall of Yugoslavia and EU enlargement in the Balkans

Abstract

Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 after World War I, after Croat, Slovenian and Bosnian territories united with the Kingdom of Serbia and obtained international recognition in 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. It was the Corfu Declaration on the 17th of July 1917 that made Yugoslavia a reality, as the representatives of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Yugoslav Committee, which was a political interest group representing the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, signed the declaration signalling the birth of the Yugoslavian state. It was after Tito’s death that the situation turned sour, as civil wars and uprisings became the norm until Yugoslavia was separated and divided into several states. What used to be Yugoslavia is now six fully independent countries - Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro - as well as a self-declared independent country, Kosovo. For now, only Croatia and Slovenia are part of the European Union, yet the other former Yugoslav republics are all looking into the possibility of joining in a possible future enlargement. This thesis will examine why a nation that was united under the theme of brotherhood became ruined when Josep Tito died, and investigate as well the relationship between the two countries that are now member states of the European Union; Slovenia and Croatia.