Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into question

The EU is currently embedded in a new enlargement process, this time towards the Western Balkans; a particular relevant geopolitical area for the EU. Among the Western Balkans EU membership candidates Serbia occupies a privileged position due to its territorial size, population and economic ties wit...

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Main Authors: Celso CANCELA, Paula LAMOSO
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (AESM), Center for Studies in European Integration 2020-12-01
Series:Eastern European Journal of Regional Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://csei.ase.md/journal/files/issue_62/EEJRS_Issue_62_4-34_CAN.pdf
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author Celso CANCELA
Paula LAMOSO
author_facet Celso CANCELA
Paula LAMOSO
author_sort Celso CANCELA
collection DOAJ
description The EU is currently embedded in a new enlargement process, this time towards the Western Balkans; a particular relevant geopolitical area for the EU. Among the Western Balkans EU membership candidates Serbia occupies a privileged position due to its territorial size, population and economic ties with the EU. Nevertheless, Serbia’s relationship with the EU is complex as a result of the regional conflicts that took place during the 1990s and, currently, due to the authoritarian character that it is steadily adopting. Bearing in mind the Serbia’s commitment to EU membership, our main purpose throughout this piece is to carefully look at Serbia in order to assess the options and challenges that it has to be an EU member state; particularly after the EU Commission reformed the EU Enlargement Process to be more political. Two major obstacles that Serbia faces in its accession process to the EU are highlighted: a weak democracy and the lack of rule of law. Despite the internal challenges that the EU is facing, both the European Commission and Germany, are clearly engaged with the Western Balkans enlargement process, mainly because of geopolitical reasons. Therefore, it is an opportunity that all of them, and particularly Serbia, should not miss.
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spelling doaj-art-863a0628dd0b4cbf93b5a232392219fc2025-08-20T02:52:24ZengAcademy of Economic Studies of Moldova (AESM), Center for Studies in European IntegrationEastern European Journal of Regional Studies2537-61791857-436X2020-12-0162434Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into questionCelso CANCELAPaula LAMOSOThe EU is currently embedded in a new enlargement process, this time towards the Western Balkans; a particular relevant geopolitical area for the EU. Among the Western Balkans EU membership candidates Serbia occupies a privileged position due to its territorial size, population and economic ties with the EU. Nevertheless, Serbia’s relationship with the EU is complex as a result of the regional conflicts that took place during the 1990s and, currently, due to the authoritarian character that it is steadily adopting. Bearing in mind the Serbia’s commitment to EU membership, our main purpose throughout this piece is to carefully look at Serbia in order to assess the options and challenges that it has to be an EU member state; particularly after the EU Commission reformed the EU Enlargement Process to be more political. Two major obstacles that Serbia faces in its accession process to the EU are highlighted: a weak democracy and the lack of rule of law. Despite the internal challenges that the EU is facing, both the European Commission and Germany, are clearly engaged with the Western Balkans enlargement process, mainly because of geopolitical reasons. Therefore, it is an opportunity that all of them, and particularly Serbia, should not miss.https://csei.ase.md/journal/files/issue_62/EEJRS_Issue_62_4-34_CAN.pdfenlargementwestern balkansserbiakosovoeuropean commission
spellingShingle Celso CANCELA
Paula LAMOSO
Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into question
Eastern European Journal of Regional Studies
enlargement
western balkans
serbia
kosovo
european commission
title Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into question
title_full Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into question
title_fullStr Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into question
title_full_unstemmed Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into question
title_short Serbia's EU membership, the corner stone of Western Balkans, into question
title_sort serbia s eu membership the corner stone of western balkans into question
topic enlargement
western balkans
serbia
kosovo
european commission
url https://csei.ase.md/journal/files/issue_62/EEJRS_Issue_62_4-34_CAN.pdf
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