the Balkans

The article analyses the change of the organization’s position concerning the situation in the Balkans in the 1990s-2000s on the basis of official documents. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the evolution of the Alliance’s approaches to the building of policy in the Balkan region in the context of its participation in the crisis management and peacekeeping operations within the territory of former Yugoslavia.

The article examines the first stage of NATO’s regional strategy elaboration in 1990–1995 in the context of fundamental changes of geopolitical situation in the world. General analysis of methods, which NATO used to reformat strategically significant regions is carried out. Special attention is paid to a  study of subjects, which connected with the process of NATO’s partnership programs ‘creation, the Alliance’s globalization, shaping of specific « Balkan » model of organization’s regional strategy.

The article examines the progress of the NATO’s«open-door» policy’s realization towards Bulgaria in the 1990-2000s taking into account the changes in the country in the socio-economic and military-political sphere, which were aimed at the integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. An analysis of the reasons that have forced NATO to begin reformatting of the Eastern Balkans and inclusion this subregion in its sphere of influence is made.