VARIJABILNA REALNOST ZAPADNOG BALKANA U KONTEKSTU EVROPSKE INTEGRACIJE
VARIABLE REALITY OF THE WESTERN BALKANS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the future of the Western Balkans in the light of a number of different factors that are not solely and purely connected to the countries of the region. Although the very process of integration into the EU is predominantly dependant on the readiness and the ability of the candidate and potential candidate countries to implement all the needed reforms, transpose the acquis and achieve the so-called European standard in legislation and in practice, the process is not being conducted in a vacuum. First of all, we should bear in mind that the development of the situation within the EU shall have crucial impact on the speed, depth and quality of the entrance of the remaining Balkan countries into the Union. Apart from that, we cannot ignore the influences of the third actors, which have become more visible and acute in the region. The EU and its Member States are the ones that define and set up the rules, therefore they bear most of the responsibility for the Enlargement Policy. Laggardness in reforms, EU crisis management, a stronger or weaker role of the third actors – all this shall determine what kind of process of European integration we shall have in the next years, and in line with it, the manner in which the process shall influence the stability and future of the enlargement countries. In this context, the Western Balkans simultaneously lives in variable realities that bring different outcomes and possibilities. This article, apart from the presentation of the situation in the Western Balkans, offers possible scenarios for the future.

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