New Article by GEO-POWER-EU PI Prof. Nikolaos Tzifakis on EU Enlargement and “Reversed Conditionality” in the Western Balkans
GEO-POWER-EU PI Prof. Nikolaos Tzifakis, together with Eleni Vasdoka, has published a new article titled “A Strategic–Relational Approach to European Union Enlargement: The Reversed Conditionality of Western Balkan Governing Elites.”
The article applies Jessop’s and Hay’s strategic–relational approach to the European Union’s enlargement policy, focusing on the leaders in applicant countries as reflexive actors who may break the confines of the compliance/non-compliance binary in EU accession negotiations and explore alternative policy options. In the Western Balkans, governing elites have repeatedly attempted to make the European Union dilute its accession conditions by presenting EU institutions with preferred policy dilemmas, a practice termed “reversed conditionality.” To illustrate this dynamic, the article examines two cases of reversed conditionality: Serbia’s alliance with Russia and the threat of unification of Albania and Kosovo.
Read the open-access article here.
*Featured image: Deutsche Welle