Official relations between the then European Community and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were established in 1968. The two decades that followed were a period of great uncertainty, culminating in the late 1980s, with many Community officials being quite sceptical about the future of the Yugoslav federation. The Community's decision in early 1992 to recognize Slovenia and Croatia as independent states, leading to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, has inspired numerous diametrically opposed explanations of policy choices, often raising as many questions as they answer.

This volume is a unique selection of valuable archival material dealing with different aspects of cooperation between the European Community and Yugoslavia. While offering a range of fresh insights, the primary sources presented here also contribute to a greater understanding of the ever-present dilemma regarding the survival of the former Yugoslav state.