THE UNFULFILLED PROMISE: COMPLETING THE BALKAN ENLARGEMENT

At this point, the Western Balkans has experienced more than a decade without armed conflict. The violence of the previous decade has taken its toll however, not only in terms of death and displacement, but also by delaying the region’s ability to catch up with the democratization process, which began a decade earlier in the rest of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe, whilst controversies over the past continue to haunt political debates. As a result, out of the countries termed the “Western Balkans”, only Croatia managed to join in 2013 and this some 13 years after the launch of the Stabilisation and Association Process. The rest of the region remains still distant from accession for the foreseeable future and some countries remain blocked altogether. 

Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz