Die Europäische Union und der Westliche Balkan: Fakten und Fragen

The European Union’s enlargement policy aims to promote peace, stability and socio-economic development in the six countries of the Western Balkans by granting the prospect of accession. While enlargement fatigue or skepticism can be observed among the member states of the European Union, chiefly due to clear democratic deficits and resistance to reform in the candidate countries, in most of the target countries the approval rates for EU membership are continuously decreasing because the time horizons are being pushed further and further into the future. The article not only discusses the problems of enlargement policy but also refers to the different geostrategic interests of the EU, the USA, Russia and China.