The european union and crisis management: The case of Kosovo

Integration on the security and defense issues is one of the main topics that have been debated for many years since the establishment of the the European Union, which has already completed its economic integration. The European states which came together to ensure peace after the Second World War, have tired to establish a structure on security and defense issues, yet their efforts were mostly unsuccesful. Following the Kosovo Crisis after the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the European states who watched the war happening near their borders, understood that they were inadequate on these issues; thus took series steps to develop the Common Foreign and Security Policy as well as its most important component, the European Security and Defense Policy. The St. Malo Declaration is regarded as a milestone in this context. The aim of this study is to examine the creation of Common Security and Defense Policy and the development of this policy within the scope of crisis management after the Kosovo Crisis. The EULEX mission of the rule of law, which is the EU's tool for civil crisis management in the area of ESDP and the crisis management developed in this context, as EULEX Kosovo are examined in this thesis study. The main research question of the study is to what extent EULEX, the first civil crisis management experience in the European Union crisis management field, is successful. Within the scope of EULEX's rule of law, justice, police and customs are the main fields of activity. With EULEX, serious steps have been taken in the field of justice, police and customs, but the desired success has not been achieved. Keywords: European Security and Defense Policy, The European Union and Crisis Management, Kosovo Crisis, EULEX