The Enlargement Of The European Union Into The Balkans: A Perspective From Balkanism

Abstract

This thesis sets out to explore the influence that discourses on the Balkans have on their accession procedures to the European Union. Doing so, it proposes a hybridized theory that incorporates on the basis of a layered interpretation of history. Proposing that the Yugoslav Wars brought discourses such as Balkanism to the fore that were incompatible to the self-image of the European Union. Instead suggesting that the EU was influenced by these Balkanist modes of thinking to adopt a regionalized policies that distorted the political situations on the ground and was obstructive to these countries’ accession processes. These claims are substantiated by the application of discursive theories onto the theories of institutional constructivism, and securitization. After treating EU accession from these respective viewpoints, they are put to the test through the case studies of Albania, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia.