The EU Enlargement and Foreign Policy: Limits of Alignment in the Western Balkans

The article discusses whether, to what extent and in what way the Western Balkan countries have been fulfilling the part of the enlargement conditions (political) related to the foreign policy alignment with the foreign policy of the EU. Specifically, four membership candidates are targeted – Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia. Both factors and actors that influence the alignment of each particular country are identified, thus indicating whether the declared foreign policy priorities, which include membership in the EU and alignment with its foreign policy, are genuinely Europeanized and domesticated. Additionally, the disciplined study of the alignment with the EU foreign policy variations takes into consideration the status each country has in relation to the EU and indicates the limits of the normative, transformative and structural power of the EU in this region.