NATO in the Balkans

The Alliance’s overall strategy for the Western Balkans aims to consolidate stability in south east Europe and facilitate the integration of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia* into Euro-Atlantic structures.

NATO’s involvement in the Balkans marked a turning point in NATO’s history: a move beyond its Cold War task of defending members’ territories and into crisis management outside its traditional borders.

What does this mean in practice?

In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, the Alliance intervened with force to end conflicts and then deployed troops to prevent a return to hostilities and build the conditions in which a peace process could take root. In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ¹ , the Alliance helped head off hostilities through diplomacy and the preventive deployment of troops to oversee the disarming of insurgents, thereby creating the pre-conditions for a process of stabilisation and reconciliation.

NATO has acted both in support of and in partnership with the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations, as well as other organisations.

How did this policy evolve?

NATO’s involvement in the Balkans dates back to 1992. In the first instance, the Alliance monitored and enforced a UN-imposed arms embargo against the whole of the former Yugoslavia as well as specific economic sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. NATO subsequently monitored and enforced a flight ban over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Which NATO bodies have a central role?

Political guidance for all NATO's military operations is provided by the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s senior decision-making body. Strategic command and control is exercised by NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium.