The Status of the European Integration Process of the Western Balkan Countries

Abstract

For many years, the priority of foreign policy determined by subsequent governments of the six Western Balkan countries, i.e., Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia has been their accession to the European Union. Yet, in recent years, this process has slowed down, and so it can be assumed that in the coming years there will be no further enlargement of the EU to include any of the Western Balkan countries. The following article is aimed at analysing the present status of European integration with regard to the aforementioned states, and discusses the causes of regression in this process which can be identified on the side of the non-EU Western Balkan states and the European Union itself. Their integration is also a key issue in the context of the increasingly stronger presence of non-EU players such as China, Russia, and Turkey, all competing with the European Union for influence in this important region. The study was based on discourse analysis (including the critical discourse analysis approach) and content analysis.

Deconstructing the European Commission's Discource on Serbia's Accession Process

“…Her conclusions regarding Serbia´s accession process is characterised by its slow pace due to the country´s struggle with several factors related to building systems of the rule of law and resolving the bilateral problem with Kosovo. She also pinpoints that the EU must also intensify their work with the accession states based on two factors; maintaining a credible status for the accession states and because of the geopolitical situation (Domachowska, 2021). This conclusion also comes forward in an in-depth analysis requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs; the current approach to enlargement has reached its limits and that the current "autopilot" mode cannot continue (Kmezic, 2015).…”