Mémoire en science politique[BR]- Travail écrit : "The EU as a Mediator in the Western Balkans. The EU-initiated process of normalization of relations between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia"[BR]- Séminaire d'accompagnement à l'écriture

Abstract

This Master's thesis examines the role of the European Union (EU) as a mediator through the prism of rational choice theory (RCT) in the context of the normalization of relations between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia from 2011 until 2021. In this respect, it emphasizes first the different types of mediation and the positions adopted by the three actors involved, especially since their respective position strongly affect their understanding of the concept of normalization. On the one hand, both Kosovo and Serbia seek to defend their own interests in the process, a situation that may be illustrated by the largely known “prisoner’s dilemma”. On the other hand, the EU establishes a series of political conditionalities to both parties and has invited Kosovo’s and Serbia’s authorities to conclude a series of, firstly technical, and secondly political agreements, whose most illustrative example appears to be the Brussels agreement (2013). However, the Union’s approach of mediation remains challenged to date by its ambiguity, its lack of transparency and of unity, and the divergences with the recent economic normalization of relations led by the United States of America (USA).