Is there (still) a European Future for the Western Balkans? The EU and the Challenge of its South-Eastern Enlargement.
Is there (still) a European Future for the Western Balkans? The EU and the Challenge of its South-Eastern Enlargement.

Summary/Abstract: The fact that the European Union is currently engulfed in an unprecedented economic crisis has had as a consequence that for a time now all issues related to the ongoing expansion of the EU towards the Western Balkans s –and also towards the North Atlantic– have been raising a very limited attention –and still less enthusiasm– among actors involved, media, and citizens as well. However, the process of EU enlargement keeps going on, probably at a slower path that expected, but without having being abandoned. This paper will examine the current state of the process, highlighting its special complexity, and trying to individualize the specific circumstances and challenges being faced by both the candidate countries –Croatia, Iceland, Turkey, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia–, and the potential candidates –Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo–. It will also explore some of the factors that are influencing its present development, distinguishing between those derived from the internal EU political dynamics, those stemming from the persistence of bilateral conflicts between Member States and candidate countries, and those deriving from a not entirely friendly international scenario.

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