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After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, bordering countries declared independence and began to integrate into Europe. The countries Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia broke into multiple countries and organized around the concept of nation-states.
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Yugoslav military was sent to Kosovo to secure the region for Greater Serbia. the countries Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia feared war so they declared independence in 1991. Yugoslavia was breaking apart.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina signed a peace agreement known as the Dayton Accord. The Dayton Accord accepted Bosnia’s borders and supported the creation of a unity government that was democratic and included the multiethnic groups. The country of Bosnia was divided into three parts: Serb, Croat, and Bosnian, becoming an independent state.
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NATO implemented Operation Allied Force to force Miloševik to discontinue their ethnic cleansing campaign and end violence in Kosovo.
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Miloševik yielded to a peace agreement that brought Kosovo under the auspices of the UN and NATO forces, removed the Serb military, and allowed for the safe return of over eight hundred thousand refugees from Albania, Montenegro, and Macedonia.
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Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Since then, geographers have called Eastern Europe a shatterbelt because of the conflicts and divisions that have occurred there.