In the Bermuda Triangle? The European Union’s Enlargement Policy, Common Foreign and Security Policy and Unfinished States in the Western Balkans

Maja Kovačević

Abstract

Twenty years of the European Union’s (EU) action as a strategic actor in the process of political and economic reforms of former communist countries has created enough experience based on which it is possible to thoroughly analyse the influence that the European integration has had on the success of transformation of these countries. In a self-imposing comparison, the process of European integration of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries can be evaluated as much more successful than it is the case with the Western Balkan countries. Such course of events can only be explained by an overall consideration of all the factors having a decisive influence on the relationship between the EU and the Western Balkan countries. This paper implies that the concept of Europeanization based on the external incentive is not enough to explain such a course of the European integration process of the Western Balkan countries. Another important factor is the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) action that contributed not only to the spreading of phenomenon of unfinished countries in the Western Balkans but also to the decreased efficiency of the instruments of enlargement policy itself.

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