The political groups of the European Parliament in the face of Yugoslavia disintegration and the discursive framing of EU foreign policy (1991-1995)

The disintegration of Yugoslavia was one of the milestones in the construction of EC/EU foreign policy. The EU made use of a variety of instruments of intervention, but showed all the political and institutional limits of a player that, with the end of the Cold War and its involvement in the resolution of that crisis, would have wanted to revitalize its international role and show that it could take on increasing responsibility in the management of world peace. Just the acknowledgement of these limits gave the EU the impetus to develop a European Security and Defence Policy, questioning, among other things, the relations between Europe and the USA in the management of peace and international security. The historical context of the Yugoslav crisis and the EC’s initial response. The failure of the EC. Rhetoric and illusions in the EP speeches. The contradictions of the principle of self-determination and the powerlessness of the EC. The EU and the management of the crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The debates at the European Parliament on the crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The debates on the political solution of the conflict: the inevitable partition? The ‘guilt’ and the debates on the military solution of the conflict.