THE WESTERN BALKANS IN THE ERA OF TRANSNATIONALISM AND INDIVIDUALISM

Abstract

In the paper, the authors problematize the process of approaching the Western Balkan
countries to membership in the European Union through the analysis of the process of stabilization
and association from the aspect of fulfilling the criteria for membership in the European Union. In
fact, the main goal of the paper is to determine whether this transnational community leads the
same process of approaching membership in the European Union for all Western Balkans
countries, given that some countries in the region are in different stages of development and
require an individual approach when fulfilling the criteria for membership in the European Union.
The research focus is primarily on the interests of the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia) for joining the EU, that is, on
the challenges to which the mentioned countries are exposed on the path of integration, as well as
on the potential consequences of such accession processes by respective countries. The second goal
is to analyze the common foreign policies of the European Union towards the Western Balkans in
order to find out what the interest of the Western Balkans countries for joining the European Union
(and vice versa) and how quickly we can expect the expansion of membership in the European
Union and these areas of the Balkans.