If EU Enlargement Stops, Balkan Enthusiasm Could Fade

Optimism was the common thread at the Bled Strategic Forum’s discussion of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans. But beneath that optimism lies a question the article considers less settled: how willing are European decision-makers to act on their belief that enlargement is necessary?

Vesko Garčević, a former Montenegrin diplomat and professor of international relations at Boston University, says the need for Balkan enlargement is clear. What remains unclear is how much determination the EU will show in pursuing it.

A collapse of the enlargement project would be music to the ears of extremists who are becoming increasingly vocal across the region, Garčević warns. For Europe, he says, that would create another major problem.

Montenegro, together with Albania, is regarded as one of the most successful Balkan candidates for EU membership. It has opened all 33 negotiating chapters and provisionally closed 16. The Council of the European Union is working on an accession treaty, while the European Commission continues its role in the process.