Garcevic Publishes Op-Ed in Balkan Insight on Neutrality in Serbia

Amb. Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Frederick S.Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published an Op-Ed on the debate in Serbia over what “neutrality” means in the Balkan context.

Amb. Garcevic’s Op-Ed, entitled “What Kind of Neutrality does Serbia Want?” was published by Balkan Insight on November 10, 2017. 

From the text of the article:

Some weeks ago, I came across an article in Politico, addressing an old Finnish dilemma – whether or not to join NATO.

Hannu Himanen, Finland’s former ambassador to Russia until 2016, was quoted as saying that Finland “deserves an open debate when it comes to foreign and security policy”.

In his opinion, Finnish politicians deliberately avoid a candid debate about this sensitive issue, being concerned about their political future if they openly advocated Finland’s inclusion in NATO.

Finland and Sweden, both states that do not belong to any security organization, have, however, intensively cooperated with NATO for years. Both have joined NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and, in their case, NATO is very interested in getting them fully on board, as members.

Finland is considered as having one leg in NATO already. What, then, is the problem and why is NATO membership still taboo? Why is it difficult even to open a frank debate about potential membership?

View all posts