Greece returns to the Balkans’? Assessing Greece’s Western Balkan Policy under SYRIZA-led Government

Abstract

This paper explores SYRIZA’s foreign policy positions concerning the Western Balkan region — before and after it came to power — and to what extent it has influenced the Greek Balkan policy in general. Also, it looks into the expectations of the SYRIZA-led government among the Western Balkan public and political elites, especially after SYRIZA’s landmark victory in the January 2015 parliamentary elections. The paper argues that the new government coalition in Greece has not demonstrated any major policy shifts compared to the previous Greek governments, trying to continue foreign policy inherited from its predecessors.