The Western Balkans’ Bumpy Road to the EU

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has given EU enlargement new impetus, but obstacles to the Western Balkan countries’ integration persist.

Dimitar Bechev, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, and Oana Popescu-Zamfir, director of the Bucharest-based think tank GlobalFocus Center, discuss the domestic dynamics in the region and how Brussels can encourage democratic reform.

[00:00:00] Intro, [00:01:41] Where the Western Balkans Stand on the Road to the EU, [00:11:20] Obstacles to EU Enlargement, [00:18:35] Prospects for Western Balkan Countries’ EU Accession.

Dimitar Bechev, January 11, 2024, “Serbia’s Authoritarian (Re)turn,” Carnegie Europe.

Dimitar Bechev, December 5, 2023, “There Are No Quick Fixes for EU Enlargement,” Carnegie Europe.

Dimitar Bechev, September 28, 2023, “The EU Cannot Give Up on Serbia and Kosovo,” Carnegie Europe.

Dimitar Bechev, June 20, 2022, “What Has Stopped EU Enlargement in the Western Balkans?,” Carnegie Europe.

Oana Popescu-Zamfir, Nikola Dimitrov, et al., June 2, 2023, “It’s a Package Deal! Reforming and Enlarging the European Union in a Contested World,” Institute for Human Sciences.

Oana Popescu-Zamfir, Rosa Balfour, et al., June 22, 2022, “What is to be done? The war, the Western Balkans and the EU,” Institute for Human Sciences.

Oana Popescu-Zamfir and Zoran Nechev, May 3, 2022, “Time to Recognize Ukraine as European and Shake Up the EU Enlargement Process,” DGAP.