Balkan Geometry: Turkish Accession and the International Relations of Southeast Europe

Turkish accession to the EU, long delayed and now apparently stalled, is taking place within a changed strategic situation in the region. The relative shift in importance of the Black Sea and western Balkan parts of southeast Europe, resulting from the post-9/11 shift in American policy and the growth of oil and gas traffic, has put new EU members Romania and Bulgaria into fundamentally new external situations. The international relations of these two states—including their accession to the EU and their ties with the United States, Russia, and Turkey—have been and will continue to be affected by the dynamic of the Turkish accession process.