"Divide et impera principle" : minority oriented state policy in the Balkans

This article focus' on institutions of the cultural autonomy adopted in some of the Balkan states. After the failure of the Dayton project in Bosnia and Herzegovina most of the Western Balkan countries adopts some forms of cultural autonomy. The main hypothesis of this article is that this solution enables the states' governments to hold a firmer control over the minorities political demands and therefore facilitate control of the minority itself and lower the risk of an ethnic conflict outbreak. This article contributes to the debate on the ethnic minorities' political accommodation by highlighting some issues related to cultural autonomy models adopted in the Balkans. It looks into these of it features, which enable central-state authorities to strengthen their bargaining position vis-à-vis ethnic minorities groups and their representatives