Beyond the ‘Balkan route’, or Why Southeastern Europe Remains a Core Issue for Europe

Abstract On the initiative of the Balkanologenverband e. V. (Association of Balkanologists), on 22 June 2016, the day before the ‘Brexit’ referendum, various experts on southeast European history and politics at Humboldt University in Berlin discussed the effects of the current crises on Europe’s southeastern periphery. In response to the dramatic events of the refugee crisis of 2015 the region oscillated between alienation from and rapprochement towards the European Union, and it has become evident that European integration has become an ever more questionable attraction for the states in the region. The participants in the discussion describe the situation after the closure of the so-called ‘Balkan route’ in March 2016 as hovering between a fragile stability and stagnation.