Western Balkans & the EU: Keeping the Promise, Finishing the Job

Enlargement is back on the EU agenda. With geopolitical tension rising and the war in Ukraine still ongoing, Brussels is preparing itself politically, institutionally and financially for a potential new wave of enlargement. Ten countries are currently working towards joining the Union in the future, but progress is uneven, especially among the Western Balkan candidates.

Montenegro and Albania are the frontrunners. The latter has already opened all chapters and is aiming to conclude accession talks next year. Montenegro, which began negotiations back in 2012, is setting an even faster pace and hopes to conclude talks with the EU by the end of this year. Other countries, on the other hand, face structural or political obstacles. Serbia and Kosovo still struggle with normalisation, Bosnia and Herzegovina finds itself in an institutional gridlock, and North Macedonia’s path is affected by Bulgarian unilateral demands.

New briefing series with FES Dialogue Southeast Europe

But is Brussels even ready for new Member States? With institutional reforms deemed necessary to safeguard the EU’s decision-making capacity and other proposals regarding a more phased access to the EU on the table, many open questions remain.

In the first edition of a new briefing series, Marco Schwarz and Harun Cero take a closer look at the state of the enlargement process across the Western Balkan candidates and the emerging debates in Brussels. At its core, the briefing asks: Can renewed political momentum translate into credible, lasting progress for both the EU and the candidate countries?

This briefing is a cooperation between the FES EU Office and FES Dialogue Southeast Europe. For more information, please contact Marco.Schwarz(at)fes.de.