CREDIBLE COMMITMENT OR INCREDIBLE DEMANDS? EU CONDITIONALITY IN THE WESTERN BALKANS
Keywords:
conditionality, enlargement, Western Balkans, democratizationAbstract
The article deals with the EU’s approach to conditionality policy in the Western Balkans. EU membership conditionality is generally believed to be one of the most effective tools at the EU’s disposal to foster stability and democracy in the neighboring regions. However, the economic crisis that hit the Eurozone in 2007/2008 and the subsequent rise in Euroscepticism raised a question whether the incentives provided by the membership perspective are as convincing for new candidates and potential candidates as they were for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The article shows that, whilst the EU remains committed to the enlargement process in the Western Balkans, the transformations that the EU’s approach has undergone have negatively affected the overall level of the Western Balkans’s membership perspective. DOI: 10.17072/2218-1067-2019-1-15-23References
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