EVROPSKE SVESKE 2018/9: SRBIJA I EU: NAKON SAMITA U SOFIJI
EUROPEAN VOLUMES 2018/9: SERBIA AND EU: AFTER THE SUMMIT IN SOFIA

Author(s): Suzana Grubješić, Slobodan Samardžić, Dušan N. Proroković, Milan Igrutinović
Contributor(s): Dejan Lj. Milenković (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Security and defense, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development
Published by: Evropski Pokret u Srbiji
Keywords: Western Balkans;EU; European Commission
Summary/Abstract: After many years of neglect and removal of enlargement from the agenda, in February the European Commission presented a new strategy for the Western Balkans. The renewed interest came at the right time: economic stagnation, nationalism, populism, organized crime, corruption, a captive state and external instigators of instability have been pressing Western Balkan societies on their exhausting path towards the European Union for years. The new strategy represents an ambitious step in the right direction because it recognizes the need to improve the process that will bring the Western Balkans closer to the European Union. The expansion was on life support, barely keeping him alive, with mistrust growing between the region's countries and EU member states. The EU's reluctance and indecision is largely attributed to the now famous "enlargement fatigue", the view that the admission of 12 countries in 2004 and 2007 and another in 2013 was too much of a burden for the EU, which is unable to cope with new, additional members. The neglect of the region is also reflected in the fact that the high representative for foreign policy, Federica Mogherini, visited the region for the first time only 30 months after taking office!

• Details
• Contents