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Abstract
The European Union (EU) enlargement went through strong processes of Europeanisation that, apart from revealing the regulatory power of the EU, reflect its ability to transform the identity of those countries candidates to membership. Considered as one of the most important and successful instruments of foreign and security action, the succeeding enlargement policies to the East, particularly those of 2004 and 2007, represented a significant contribution for the establishment of an extended security community. An assessment on the countries of the West Balkans is presented, since their processes of accession to the EU now extend for more than a decade. The undeniable geopolitical and geostrategic significance, shown throughout history by the risks of spreading the internal conflicts across the European borders, make this region one of the most vital of the EU’s periphery, to its security. In spite of this significance, the current “enlargement fatigue”, motivated largely by the lack of consensus amongst member-states, drives away the countries of the Balkans from veering towards the EU, thereby rendering them more susceptible to the influence of foreign players, particularly that of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. In that context, it is argued that the EU, by setting aside the enlargement politic to the countries of the West Balkans, gives a deeply negative sign to the region, moving them away from the criteria established for the europeanization processes reached so far, and as a consequence, placing themselves under de influence of foreign players, circumstances which jeopardise the stability in the EU periphery.
Highlights
The European Union (EU) evolution is closely associated with the integration and development among its members reached in several areas, namely political, economic and social
Issues related with security, are abreast with those related with economy and made the solid foundations for the establishment and strengthening of the EU, as a relevant political entity
The achievements accomplished in the scope of security and defence, which can be seen in actions taken under the Common Security and Defence Policy make unlikely a violent conflict between member states
Summary
The European Union (EU) evolution is closely associated with the integration and development among its members reached in several areas, namely political, economic and social. In Strasbourg, the French President Emmanuel Macron made public his reluctance towards the pursuit of the enlargement policy, by asserting that the EU needed to improve is own governance before admitting new member states Macron yet justified his statement with concerns regarding migration, specially the one that comes from Albania, since the Albanian community is the second largest applying for asylum in France, emphasizing that it would be impossible for him to justify opening negotiations with that country to his fellow citizens, given those circumstances. The present article shows that there is an intimate relationship between the enlargement policies and changes operated by the EU on candidate states, having in the so-called “Copenhagen Criteria” their regulatory framework, and secondly, to point that the withdrawal of the West Balkans countries from the perspective of joining the EU, may have deep negative consequences for the EU security, making the region more prone to the intervention of other foreign players, namely Russia, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The main challenges for the EU in the West Balkans are presented, as an outcome of the purposes, intentions and influence that the foreign players have in order to achieve those same purposes
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