The German unification and the collapse of Yugoslavia were major challenges to European stability in the first years of the post-Cold War era. The fall of the ComiTiunist bloc towards the end of the 1980s turned upside down all the parameters in Europe which used to remain serene since the end of the Second World War. The German unification was almost a natural consequence of the fall of Communism, since the division of the German state came into being after the Second World War, within the Allied powers’ aim to restructure the European balance of power. The unified Germany was regarded by its partners as a challenge to European politics, which might overrule the EC/EU, and which therefore needed to be contained in one way or the other. As the EC was busy with adapting to the changes brought about by the German unification, the Yugoslav war broke out and became a trial case in determining the new parameters of European, as well as German foreign policy aims. fhe EU. in the new era, aimed to stand up in the international arena as a political actor on its own. This included the minimization of American influence on European politics. The US also expected the Europeans to solve their problems on their own. To this end. Yugoslavia again was the trial case, where the US held back for a long time and waited for the EU to take the initiative. However, time pro\ ed that the EU member states were so busy with trying to curtail each other’s influence that in the end they became unable to produce any policy and urgently required the US initiative for solution