No Events
Following the official dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992, seven countries declared their independence: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo. With the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the Balkans—whose political borders were redrawn—re-emerged as an important region in the international system after a long period. The ethnic conflicts that occurred during the process of Yugoslavia’s dissolution not only revealed the fragile structure of the region but also led the EU and NATO to develop various policies aimed at ensuring stability in the region.
In particular, it is significant that newly independent states have adopted closer relations with the EU as a strategic goal in order to strengthen their economic institutions, support their development, and ensure political stability. In addition, the Balkans’ geographical position as a transition zone between the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Asia, as well as its strategic importance in terms of energy routes, trade corridors, and transportation networks; moreover, its role as a key junction point in terms of migration movements and border security, all demonstrate why the region holds a crucial position for the EU. In line with all these factors, the Balkan countries have become one of the most important focal points of the EU’s enlargement policy.
Following Russia’s launch of a military operation against Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and the ongoing de facto war, a visible shift and acceleration have been observed in the European Union’s enlargement policy. The enlargement process, which had progressed rather slowly and cautiously even after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, has, in the aftermath of the war, placed geopolitical and security concerns at the center of enlargement policy. The perception that Russia poses a threat to European security has increased the EU’s willingness to integrate the Balkan countries more deeply into its political and economic structure. In particular, the EU—placing European security at its core—has sought to strongly revitalize its relations with the Western Balkan countries—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo—which have long been based on a gradual integration model, and has adopted a comprehensive approach that reprioritizes enlargement policy for the integration of the region into the EU, while developing strategies that promote democratization, the rule of law, and institutional reforms to ensure that this integration proceeds in a healthy manner.
This study aims to reveal whether the change in the European Union’s enlargement policy in the Balkans—particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—seeks to achieve a normative transformation in the region or whether this process is employed as a strategic instrument. In the first section of the study, how the EU is defined as a normative power and how the conditionality mechanism functions within the enlargement process will be examined theoretically. In the second section, using this theoretical framework, the relationship between the EU’s discourse and its practical implementation will be analyzed; in light of issues such as the sustainability of reforms, the uncertainties of the accession process, and the impact of differing views within the EU, the effects of enlargement policy on Balkan countries and the changes in the EU’s approach throughout this process will be evaluated. In the final section, through a comparative analysis based on recent developments among the Balkan countries, it will be discussed whether the EU truly acts on a value-based basis in its enlargement policy or whether strategic interests are more decisive.
The European Union’s Normative Power Approach and Enlargement Policy
What kind of power the European Union should be considered in the international system is one of the fundamental and enduring debates in the academic literature. In the early 1970s, François Duchêne’s “Civilian Power Europe” approach defined Europe as a civilian power with “high economic capacity and relatively limited military forces.” Realists such as Hedley Bull, however, criticized this view by arguing that Europe was not in fact a “civilian power,” but rather an incomplete military power. According to Bull, being a civilian power was not sufficient. Military capacity was necessary for security, and the EU could not become a serious actor unless it achieved military independence. Bull argued that the EU should possess nuclear deterrence and strengthen its conventional armed forces.
…
