On 6 August 2025, our network member Dr Christian Methfessel, postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) in Berlin, published an essay in the Journal of Comparative Southeast European Studies entitled ‘Rooting for a Serbian Dominated Yugoslavia? The United Kingdom and the Recognition of Slovenia and Croatia’.
The article examines British policy toward Yugoslavia in the early 1990s on the basis of newly released archival documents. Methfessel analyses the extent to which common interpretations – such as an allegedly Serbophile pattern in British foreign policy, neocolonial interests, or fear of German hegemony – can actually explain London’s stance toward the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia.
His research shows that British policy was less influenced by long-term traditions or power-political calculations than by realpolitik considerations, the search for European consensus, and domestic political pressure. The Foreign Office distanced itself early on from the Milošević government and viewed the idea of a ‘Greater Serbia’ as a threat. Germany’s recognition policy was also interpreted not as hegemonic, but as a result of public pressure.
With this reassessment of British policy on Yugoslavia, Methfessel makes an important contribution to the international history of the Yugoslav Wars and to the debates surrounding the reorganisation of Europe after the Cold War.
You can find the full article here.
To make sure you don’t miss news like this in the future, follow us on Instagram or Bluesky and visit our website Conflicts.Meanings.Transitions.
Image: Cover of the Journal of Comparative Southeast European Studies