Özet:

This article deals with the significance of the Mini Schengen Initiative in shaping the new geopolitical configuration of the Western Balkans. In theoretical terms, the article discusses the changing meaning of borders in the contemporary world and buffer zones as a subject of research in political geography and geopolitics. In methodological terms, the authors provide an overview of the political-territorial development of the Western Balkans and then implement the theoretical approaches of contemporary political geography and geopolitics in the perspectives of the Western Balkans and its de facto status. Furthermore, analysing media reports related to the Mini Schengen Initiative, the article correlates the mentioned theoretical approaches with the trends in the political geography of the Western Balkans encouraged by the Initiative. Finally, the authors conclude that the Mini Schengen Initiative does not have a strong integration capacity; instead, serves as a waiting room for European Union membership thus shaping the Western Balkans as a new buffer zone.

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