Le relazioni tra la Comunità europea e la Jugoslavia: i documenti più rilevanti (1980-1992)

Relations between the European Community and Yugoslavia: the most relevant documents (1980-1992)

Abstract

The archives of the European Union provide an impressive amount of documents about the European Community-Yugoslav relations. Starting with 1980, when many debates tended to be dominated by an ever-increasing pessimism about the future of the Yugoslav state after Josip Broz Tito, to 1992, when the European Union actually recognized the collapse of the Yugoslav federation, this paper focuses on primary sources discussing mainly political aspects of the official relations between the two parties. While looking at numerous meetings, powerful statements and disputable promises that were expected to bring Belgrade and Brussels closer together, this paper shows how the relationship between them in the period 1980-1992 became rather unstable, often characterized by European Community criticism directed towards the Belgrade authorities and overall skepticism with regard to the survival of the Yugoslav state.