Cross-Border Cooperation on the Example of Border Municipalities of the Western Balkan Countries

Abstract

Over the last decade of the last century, cross-border cooperation programs have been promoted as a very important instrument of support in overcoming the challenges of the transition process in the Western Balkans. The countries belonging to this Balkan geopolitical sub region are the countries of the former Yugoslavia: Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Albania. The common features of these countries are the transition processes that have lasted for more than three decades, the low level of economic development in relation to the countries of Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, and the political orientation towards membership in the European Union. Over the past three decades, the European Union has made various pre-accession assistance instruments available to the Western Balkans. The goal of engaging these instruments is to help the countries of the Western Balkans quickly overcome the challenges of the transition process and quickly join the European integration process. Part of that assistance relates to cooperation projects between the border municipalities of the Western Balkans. In the last two decades, a large number of such projects have been implemented, and cultural cooperation, understanding, and tolerance among neighbors have been improved. However, the real development effects have not been achieved to a significant extent.