Publication

This paper looks at the challenges that stand in the way of EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. One challenge is the economic crisis that has stymied the reform process in the region. Another increasingly serious challenge is the EU's growing reluctance to enlarge further. The receding prospects for EU membership, argues the author, mean that the Balkan states may not have sufficient motivation to go on with long-term reform efforts. As a result, the transformation process may falter, and in the longer term, the situation in the entire region may become destabilized.