The Europeanization of the Balkans

Abstract

South East Europe figures prominently as a region exhihiting late development, slow reform, and divergence from the rest of Europe. As the European Union moves towards integration. South East Europe, especially the Western Balkans, moves towards instability and fragmentation. This gap threatens to undermine European convergence. The 2004 eastern enlargement of the European Union, which left out all of the Balkan countries, confirmed regional trends and shortcomings. Yet all the states and peoples in the region have expressed their desire to be part of Europe. They have linked their future with the European Union, and regard their Europeanization as a desirable and modernizing change. This article discusses Europeanization in South East Europe in light of EU integration and the impact of integration on national politics, domestic structures, and local attitudes. It defines Europeanization, South East European style as an increasingly demanding, externally driven, and coercive process of domestic and regional change brought about by the EU. Europeanization is internalized differently by the various states or national actors in rhe Balkans, and its degree of success relies on their ability and willingness to change. The process is uneven at both the domestic and regional levels: at the domestic level, it generates a battle between the forces of reform and reaction; at the regional level, it results in differentiation and diversity among countries that demonstrate varying levels of integration with Europe.

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