ABSTRACT
The region of the Western Balkans(WB) includes seven countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia- together corresponding to the former Yugoslavia minus Slovenia and plus Albania. The goal of accession to the EU is the common denominator for the region and provides the greatest incentive for implementing broad political, economic and social reforms. NATO focuses primarily on hard, i.e. military, issues, while soft security issues are mostly tackled by the European Union in the framework of the accession process. The important common task is to deal with the challenges of regional enlargement following Croatia's entry to the EU. Croatia is seen as the first success story of EU enlargement in the WB and its membership proves the credibility of the Stabilization and Association Process. Regional cooperation is understood as a prerequisite for creating stability, security and long-term peace in Western Balkans, and has been seen as the 'main remedy for the regional conflicts'.
