Despite three decades of international support and an intensified and structured EU accession process over the last 20 years, democracy is not doing much better In the region. Montenegro, Serbia and, since mid-2022, Albania and North Macedonia are also candidates for EU membership with the opening of official negotiations. Bosnia and Herzegovina was granted candidate country status subject to further reforms in October 2022. Kosovo has applied to become a member of the EU at the end of 2022. The new stages of the enlargement process in the region are linked to the evolution of the geopolitical and strategic context, namely Russia war against Ukraine. The EU seeks to align with partner countries on aspects of stability and security, including sanctions against Russian entities and individuals, and the newly created European Political Community.
THE The Swedish EU Presidency and the democratic agenda The project organized a regional online consultation on October 20, 2022. 12 civil society representatives from the 6 Western Balkan countries came together to discuss democratic trends in the region as well as the relevance and coherence of democratic politics external to the EU.
The regional dialogue for this project highlighted that Western Balkan countries face different levels of democratic challenges. Serbia clearly stands out as a hybrid regime, characterized by a high concentration of power and low political and media pluralism. The EU appears to be losing popular support as well as its transformative power in several countries in the region, notably with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the disinformation campaigns that followed. In the Western Balkans, the EU’s democratic approach is often seen as technical and can be overshadowed by the more influential political engagement of other actors.
Overall, the perception of the EU as an actor in democracy, this varies from country to country; the high level of support in several countries (e.g. Albania and Montenegro) should not be taken for granted, however, as popular support can quickly collapse in a media landscape that remains fragile. Together with other international partners, the EU should develop a systemic approach to democracy in the region, complementing the focus on specific important issues such as justice reform, access to justice or elections. Certain subjects also deserve more attention: the fight against corruption, political polarization and the concentration of power, disinformation and foreign influence, organized crime and the infiltration of political parties, or even the restriction of access to information. The deterioration of the environment for civil society has been identified as a regional trend. CSOs from several countries also reported a weakening of the EU’s commitment to cooperating with them on the EU accession agenda.
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