EU’s Future in the Balkans’ Hands?
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2025-06-30
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en
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Enlargement is one of the most important policies of the European Union (EU). However, due to the stagnation of the accession process with the Western Balkan states, this policy is surrounded by uncertainty. Consequently, the EU is in a new uncomfortable situation regarding its international reputation and credibility. This research dives further into this topic, specified to the case of Albania. Through a decolonial lens to debunk the EU’s neo-colonial attitude, this situation will be elaborated via the concept of accession fatigue, in terms of national political interest, local ownership, and public support. How will those aspects contribute to the stagnation of the accession process? And what are the possible solutions to accelerate the process? After an in-depth analysis, this research makes clear that an important part of the solution lies in the EU itself: moving away from its fundamental conditionality.
KEY WORDS: Albania; European Union; enlargement/accession; fatigue; national political interest; local ownership; public support; conditionality; decoloniality.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen