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(Dis)Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European Union

Mahir Sijamija

17.02.21

Mahir Sijamija We cannot expect Bosnia and Herzegovina, or any other candidate country, to join the EU until we develop antibodies to the virus of corruption, crime and nationalist policies that still paralyze Western Balkans. History has shown that, over the...

Eight years later: Is Croatia finally truly ready for Europe?

Bojana Guberac

15.02.21

Bojana Guberac Croatia joined the European Union on the first day of July, 2013. Many feared joining the EU for various reasons. One of the reasons for such fears related to what the EU would bring us. Yet, nearly eight years later, I have the impression that it is no...

Greece’s EU journey: Solidarity hard to come by, but two-way approach also lacking

Alexandra Voudouri

12.02.21

Alexandra Voudouri This year Greece will celebrate its 40th anniversary as a member of one of the strongest clubs in the world, the European Union. Greece’s European journey has been quite bumpy and brought the country to the edge of an exit from the Union. Learning...

Some Sad Lessons the Western Balkans Can Learn from Bulgaria’s EU Journey

Radosveta Vassileva

10.02.21

Radosveta Vassileva In 2007, we were so happy and proud to be finally in that mythological space, this pretentious club for the chosen ones known as the EU. Thirteen years after accession, however, this European dream looks more like a nightmare. In the late 1990s and...

Running in the Wrong Direction: Rama’s Spat with the EU Over Vaccination Underlines Growing Frustration

Alfonc Rakaj

08.02.21

Alfonc Rakaj However tempting or justifiable it may be, Mr. Rama and his regional colleagues would do well not to bite on the hand that “feeds” their people, invest in their future and build their schools. The public spillover of criticism towards the EU marks a...

‘Somewhere in the Middle’: Kosovo’s delicate relations with the European Union

Butrint Berisha

05.02.21

Butrint Berisha EU’s internal political developments, led to its inability to implement a consistent and cohesive policy towards Kosovo, which has been demonstrated in the case of the visa liberalization. Currently Kosovo is the only country in the region which is...

The Macedonian Path to Brussels: Breaking the Vicious Cycle

Malinka Ristevska Jordanova

03.02.21

Malinka Ristevska Jordanova Ultimately, we should acknowledge that the EU cannot simply come up with a recipe that will grant us a better life. We must have our own vision and our own plan. Some fifteen years ago, while talking to another veteran in the EU integration...

EU enlargement – a moving target that is moving farther and farther away

Dina Bajramspahić

01.02.21

Dina Bajramspahic In 2020, none of the six countries of the Western Balkans has made progress in the process of European integration. It is true that they could have done more, but this still begs the question of whether the process itself “is working” if...

Who is left dreaming the European dream in Serbia?

Katarina Tadic

29.01.21

Katarina Tadic Serbia started negotiations back in 2014, yet today the country seems further from the EU than it was five years ago. The accession of the Western Balkans to the European Union (EU) has been ongoing for eighteen years, since the distant 2003, when all...

Maximizing Power and Accumulating Wealth: A typical Balkan story

Vladimir Djordjevic

22.01.21

Vladimir Djordjević It is no wonder that citizens have little trust in the state institutions when they know that informal practices may actually assist them in resolving the issues they face when dealing with formal state institutions and their rules and norms. In my...