How is current migrant crisis affecting international relations in the Western Balkans? Marko Stojić, a EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy analyst, tackles the issue in a blog post written for Hospodářské noviny, a leading Czech daily newspaper.

Stojić notes that:

• The largest migrant crisis in Europe since the Second World War has seriously undermined the already fragile interstate relations in the Western Balkans.
• One of the busiest borders in the region between Serbia and Croatia was reopened after a five-day blockade that culminated in a ban on entry of Serbian citizens to Croatia.
• Instead of being actively involved in resolving the dispute, the EU kept quiet for days until the closure of the border started affecting the regional ailing economies and their delicate political stability.

Stojić writes that this crisis also highlights the “need for a new mechanism of permanent and close communication between these states that are obviously unable to cope individually with the complex global challenges that will continue to affect them in the future.”

An English-language translation of the post can be read on the EUROPEUM website here.